Release Date:
November 27, 2006 Contact: Alexia Davis
561.832.5196 ext. 1183
davisa@norton.org

Groundbreaking O’Keeffe Exhibition Premieres at Norton Museum of Art
February 10 Through May 6, 2007

West Palm Beach, Fl - Organized by the Norton Museum of Art, Georgia O’Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction will be the first exhibition to examine this groundbreaking American artist’s unique approach to abstraction. The exhibition will bring together more than forty of O’Keeffe’s works to explore the fascinating ways in which the artist used circular motifs as a means of simplifying, organizing, and energizing her compositions. Circling Around Abstraction and its accompanying catalogue will add a new perspective to the current dialogue on O’Keeffe by enriching existing scholarship and deepening the public’s understanding of this significant artist and the important contribution she made to American modernism. To commemorate "The Year of O’Keeffe" and following its premier at the Norton Museum, the exhibition will travel to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico (May 5, 2007 through September 9, 2007) and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (October 7, 2007 through January 6, 2008).

As the title suggests, O’Keeffe approached the issue of abstraction—a seminal concern in American art throughout her long career—from different angles. “Georgia O’Keeffe’s works range from clear, objective depictions of motifs to others that are more subjective. In all of her works O’Keeffe endeavored to simplify her compositions, eliminate non-essential details, and distill the essence of the things she was painting” said Norton Museum Executive Director, Christina Orr-Cahall.

The title also refers to the specific genre of forms that O’Keeffe drew and to which she returned repeatedly over the entire course of her career: the circle, the oval, and the hypnotic swirl of a whiplash spiral. Such forms can be found in her earliest charcoal abstractions of the 1910s and in many of her innovative oil paintings that followed, such as the Norton Museum’s Red Flower. In the 1920s, working in the more traditional genre of still life, O’Keeffe focused on the rounded forms of fruits and vegetables set within or upon baskets and plates and presented in severely cropped and flattened compositions. She also expanded her range of subjects drawn from the natural world while continuing to explore new ways of depicting them. Circling Around Abstraction features a variety of these paintings, many never before exhibited together, such as the group of three works wherein O’Keeffe magnified the hypnotic whirls of a piece of wood. In other paintings from these years she focused on the swirling forms of a clamshell, hidden pools nestled in the woods, and looping strands of fishing line as well as her signature flower blossoms.

Circling Around Abstraction finds O’Keeffe coming full circle as she revisits some of her favorite forms from earlier paintings, ranging from the charcoal abstractions of the teens to the more recent series of pelvis bones, produced in the final decades of her life. The exhibition will present a comprehensive overview of her haunting series of pelvis paintings, including the Norton Museum’s Pelvis with the Moon – New Mexico. Also on view will be one of O’Keeffe’s rare abstractions based on her experience of flying in an airplane, as well as two versions of one of her little-known abstract sculptures.

"Not only is Circling Around Abstraction the Norton Museum’s first O’Keeffe exhibition and the most comprehensive ever on view in Florida, it is the first to highlight her most important contribution to the development of abstract art in America -- the use of circular, naturally-derived forms rather than rectilinear geometric ones - therefore demonstrating why she is considered one of America's most innovative modern artists" said Jonathan Stuhlman, curator of the exhibition.

Georgia O’Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction was organized by the Norton Museum of Art. National sponsorship of the exhibition has been generously provided by Mrs. Shelby Cullom Davis. Local sponsorship of this exhibition is made possible in part through the generosity of Mrs. Shelby Cullom Davis, Harold and Anne Berkley Smith, and The Priscilla and John Richman Endowment. Media Support provided by The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach Daily News, and WXEL 90.7 FM

Exhibition Catalogue:
Georgia O’Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction is accompanied by a fully illustrated hardcover catalog with essays by Jonathan Stuhlman, Curator of American Art to the Mint Museum of Art, and Barbara Buhler Lynes, the Emily Fisher Landau Director of the Research Center and Curator of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Lynes is a scholar of American Modernism and the leading expert on O'Keeffe. The catalog is co-published by the Norton Museum of Art and Hudson Hills Press; it will be available for purchase in the Museum Store for $35.

Exhibition Admission:

Adults $12
Visitors age 13-21 $5
Children 12 and under Admission is free
Members Free tickets based on Membership Level
Adult Group Tours $10
School Group Tours $3

Hotel Packages:
The Norton Museum of Art is partnering with six local hotels to offer special Museum hotel packages, which include discounted room rates and VIP tickets to the special exhibitions Georgia O’Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction and Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel. Hotel partners include: The Breakers, The Colony Hotel, Chesterfield Hotel, The Four Seasons, Marriott West Palm Beach and The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. Visitors can log onto www.norton.org for hotel information.

Café 1451 at the Norton:
Café 1451 at the Norton has expanded and altered its menu to accompany the American theme of this year’s exhibition schedule with new gourmet ”bistro” items such as: Mac + Cheese, Southwestern Shrimp Salad, Hamburger Deluxe, and Apple Pie + Ice Cream. Lunch is served Monday through Saturday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.—drinks, wine, cheese and desserts are served until 4:00 pm. On Sunday the full menu is served from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. New Afternoon Tea selections are available Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Admission to the Museum is not required and free parking is available at the Museum or in the West Parking Lot located on South Dixie Highway. For reservations for all size groups please call (561) 366-8500 or e-mail cafe1451@lyonandlyon.com.

Adult Group Tours:
Groups of 15 or more can enjoy a discounted admission price of $10 per person which includes a 45-minute docent guided tour of the exhibition. A special lunch menu is available at Café 1451 at the Norton. Group Tours must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance. For reservations please contact Vita Maucere at (561) 832-5196, ext. 1135 or email maucerev@norton.org.


The Norton Museum of Art is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. (Closed Mondays from May through October and on major holidays.) General admission is $8 for adults, $3 for visitors ages 13-21, and free for Members and children under 13. An additional charge may apply for special exhibitions. For general information, please call (561) 832-5196