Georgia O'Keefe and the Calla Lily in American Art, 1860-1940

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Summary: A botanist's zantedeschia is a gardener's calla
Review: GEORGIA O'KEEFFE AND THE CALLA LILY IN AMERICAN ART, 1860-1940 has more than 50 calla images by 33 artists and photographers. The driving force behind the exhibition, catalogue and book is Barbara Buhler Lynes, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum curator. In one beautifully illustrated, clearly written and nicely organized source, she traces the plant's history, from the limited written record and through art.

Europeans imported the calla in 1731. The name was already in place, from Pliny, according to botanist Jacques Dalechamps. William Wood said the word meant beautiful in Greek. Carolus von Linnaeus, Swedish plant classifier, accepted the name for his "Species plantarum."

But calla palustris already named a northern water plant. So it became richardia. But that was already a rubiaeceae family member. So it became, and stayed, zantedeschia, after Italian botanist and physician Francesco Zantedeschi.

Art has left a better record than writing. For classifying plants encouraged drawing flowers. Especially after the calla was imported from South Africa into the United States, American artists took to its white blooms, spear-headed leaves and elegant silhouette. It became grown, known and painted coast to coast.

Traditionally, it was painted into women's portraits. As recently as 1951, Mexican artist Diego Rivera put the calla into his portrait of Helen N. Starr. A female bullfighter, Starr faced death many times. The calla was also called the perfect mourning flowers, along with azalea, rose and violets. In fact, it was scattered over President Lincoln's casket and Queen Victoria's deathbed.

It was also seen as symbol, and cause, of death. Some scientists believed them to be dangerously poisonous. But that didn't keep southern Californians from growing them outdoors, year-round, as potato-like tasty good in looks and cooking. It was the same with missionaries who had seen pygmies and elephants eating the corms in the Congo.

With all the hype, how could the calla become other than the best known subject in American art? Marsden Hartley and Georgia O'Keeffe were particularly responsible for, but not alone in, that. Not surprisingly, shortly afterwards the calla also became a favorite with advertisers, designers, film-makers and marriage planners. The book perfectly traces this fascinating surge, from our gardens and into almost all of our arts. It reads especially well with Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser's MARSDEN HARTLEY.

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Summary: Context for Georgia O'Keeffe's Startling Calla Lilies
Review: Georgia O'Keeffe is famous for her sensual flower paintings. Her reputation is based on the graphic depiction of genitalia among the details and silhouettes of her flowers. Although she declined to acknowledge in public that this is what she was doing, it's unmistakable. In this volume, for example, see plates 33 and 38 for the most unambiguous examples involving calla lilies.

The calla lily presents a unique opportunity to display this aspect of her work since the flower visually exhibits some characteristics similar to both male and female sex organs.

The essays in the book describe how calla lilies came to leave South Africa to make their way to North America and Europe, and how people there responded to the calla lily. The flower was seen as a symbol of women and men, love, purity, and death. A number of painters and photographers chose to work with calla lilies, and 54 of their paintings, drawings and photographs are reproduced in the book. Nine include some of Ms. O'Keeffe's most famous works. Before her startling innovations with calla lilies, the flowers were best known for the treatments that Marsden Hartley did with them, many of which are reproduced in the book.

The essays are primarily of interest for the story behind the famous "sale" of calla lily paintings for $25,000 during the Depression that helped establish Ms. O'Keeffe as a prominent artist in collector circles. It turns out that it was almost a loan, on approval, rather than a sale.

The essays refuse to address the sexuality issue for the works except to note that those who read Freud might see sexual symbolism in the flowers, and that Ms. O'Keeffe claimed no such intent. Balderdash! I graded the book down one star for such intellectual pussyfooting.

I did enjoy the book, though, because although I was familiar with her calla lily paintings, I failed to appreciate how spectacular these paintings were as innovations until I compared them to the treatments by other artists who simply saw calla lilies primarily as a background symbol, as part of a still life, or as an elegant source of soaring curves evoking a spiritual sense.

Rating:
Summary: Context for Georgia O'Keeffe's Startling Calla Lilies
Review: Georgia O'Keeffe is famous for her sensual flower paintings. Her reputation is based on the graphic depiction of genitalia among the details and silhouettes of her flowers. Although she declined to acknowledge in public that this is what she was doing, it's unmistakable. In this volume, for example, see plates 33 and 38 for the most unambiguous examples involving calla lilies.

The calla lily presents a unique opportunity to display this aspect of her work since the flower visually exhibits some characteristics similar to both male and female sex organs.

The essays in the book describe how calla lilies came to leave South Africa to make their way to North America and Europe, and how people there responded to the calla lily. The flower was seen as a symbol of women and men, love, purity, and death. A number of painters and photographers chose to work with calla lilies, and 54 of their paintings, drawings and photographs are reproduced in the book. Nine include some of Ms. O'Keeffe's most famous works. Before her startling innovations with calla lilies, the flowers were best known for the treatments that Marsden Hartley did with them, many of which are reproduced in the book.

The essays are primarily of interest for the story behind the famous "sale" of calla lily paintings for $25,000 during the Depression that helped establish Ms. O'Keeffe as a prominent artist in collector circles. It turns out that it was almost a loan, on approval, rather than a sale.

The essays refuse to address the sexuality issue for the works except to note that those who read Freud might see sexual symbolism in the flowers, and that Ms. O'Keeffe claimed no such intent. Balderdash! I graded the book down one star for such intellectual pussyfooting.

I did enjoy the book, though, because although I was familiar with her calla lily paintings, I failed to appreciate how spectacular these paintings were as innovations until I compared them to the treatments by other artists who simply saw calla lilies primarily as a background symbol, as part of a still life, or as an elegant source of soaring curves evoking a spiritual sense.