Product Details

• Actors: Georgia Okeeffe
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 20, 2000
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302994381
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,855 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This 1977 documentary was produced toward the end of O'Keefe's life, at a time when the artist was at one with her art and her life. The hour-long film plays mainly off of O'Keefe's own words; there is no narrator's voice, there is barely an interviewer's voice. O'Keefe speaks alone--with a soft, gentle eloquence that we can also hear in her paintings, a well-articulated firmness that is unintimidating, witty, provocative, and in the end, beautiful.

O'Keefe was born in Wisconsin where she learned to suppress her eccentric ideas and her drive to paint--a career goal she set at the age of 12--so that she and her mother wouldn't quarrel. A talented artist from the outset, she was trained classically in New York where she studied to be a teacher. She accepted a job in North Carolina, because she thought it would allow her the time and focus to produce the art she craved to produce. But after a year of painting, she threw away everything she had made--each piece had been to please someone else, and what O'Keefe deeply wanted was to find an art that pleased her.

A job in Texas brought her finally to the country that would shape her art and her renown: her paintings of desiccated animal bones, flowers, landscapes, and architectural close-ups, juxtaposed with the stunning blue of the Southwestern sky. She would send paintings to a friend in New York, writing that she wanted to know what her friend thought--and to make sure O'Keefe wasn't going mad. But her friend got photographer Alfred Stieglitz interested in O'Keefe's abstract work. O'Keefe's intense relationship with Stieglitz evolved over years into one of the best known relationships in the arts; they married. But, quite humorously, O'Keefe refers to Stieglitz never as "Alfred" or "my husband," just "Stieglitz."

Perry Miller Adato's documentary brings O'Keefe's paintings to life in the artist's own words. Her enthusiasm for form, for making the small and unnoticeable immense, for intense and vibrant color: This is a rewarding journey through the soul and the eye of a 20th-century great. --Erik Macki

Product Description

In this award-winning documentary (Peabody Award, Bronze Hugo Award), legendary painter Georgia O'Keeffe candidly reveals her warmth, humor, and practical wisdom. For the first time on camera, O'Keeffe openly discusses her work and inspirations taken from the haunting mountain deserts of New Mexico. Walk with one of the legends of the 21st century and see a rare glimpse into the mind of one of America's foremost painters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Muse Speaks through Georgia, December 18, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Butte, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Georgia O'Keeffe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

An eloquent view of one of the great 20th century artists who painted for her own amusement. Despite some critics who did not get her or her subject matter, Georgia remained true to her Muse and painted the view of her minds eye. This personal tour of her life and place gives us a sense of her vision.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AS AUTHENTIC AS THE ARTIST HERSELF, April 16, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Georgia O'Keeffe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It's a memorable experience for art aficionados when Georgia O'Keeffe appears on camera to discuss her life and her work.

As if that were not enough, this portrait of her is enhanced by the comments of those who were close to her and by scenes of the terrain that she loved and found inspirational.

A landmark viewing for Georgia O'Keeffe fans.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE film about Georgia O'Keefe, December 26, 2008

By 

KR503 (San Anselmo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Georgia O'Keeffe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

There are now a few Georgia O'Keefe biographical films on the market -- but don't be fooled. This is the original one done for PBS by Perry Miller Adato, who specializes in making films about artists. This was made when O'Keefe was 90 years old and her large-format retrospective monograph (now a collector's item in its original edition) was first released. It's a visit with O'Keefe in which she more than speaks for herself. It discusses how her life and work was influenced by her relationship with Stieglitz and her love of the landscape. If you want to see not only her work, biographical information, and some artistic analysis (by very compelling art historians, not stuffy at all) and if you want to see this great artist at work and in discussion, this is the film to see -- IF ONLY someone would release it on DVD. No matter, hunt down the VHS if you can.