Taliesin West presents American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe, a new photography exhibition spotlighting Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe, luminaries in American art and architecture. Over the course of their storied careers, each changed the way we see the world and left their mark on American Modernism. You may have heard these names before, but you have never seen them quite like this: Twenty images shown in an intimate setting, against the backdrop of North Scottsdale’s McDowell Mountains.
The portraits give us insight to their lives and the uniquely American style that Wright and O’Keeffe brought to art, design, and culture.
American Icons is a chance to see another side of these legends – a more human, personal side – and explore what they have in common. Both were born in rural Wisconsin and had careers that took them to big cities – but ultimately, they made homes in the southwest – Wright in Arizona, O’Keeffe in New Mexico. Both were deeply inspired by nature and created abstractions of the natural world in their work. They each possessed keen powers of observation and became reflections of their own art and style. They had a mutual admiration for one another’s work, but few realize they met in 1942 and exchanged letters, books, and ideas for more than 20 years.
Wright and O’Keeffe were photographed by Tony Vaccaro for Look Magazine – Wright in Wisconsin, 1957, and O’Keeffe in New Mexico, 1960. When paired, the images have genuine visual symmetry, even though they were taken years apart.
Image: Georgia with Her Favorite Mountain, 1960. © Tony Vaccaro. Image courtesy of Tony Vaccaro Studio and Monroe Gallery of Photography.
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