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Bringing the Outdoors in. Spring-up with O’keeffe and Renoir

Auguste Renoir’s paintings were some of the first of the Impressionist forms, while George O’Keefe’s paintings are primarily noteworthy for their beautiful landscapes and flowers.

Renoir was considered one of the first Impressionists, so passionate about his painting that when he grew old and arthritic he completed his Renoir paintings by tying the paintbrush to his wrist.

Renoir paintings, in the outdoors scenes reminiscent of early Impressionists, often displayed ordinary people having a great time in recreational activities such as dancing or boating. Renoir paintings showed mastery of light display that gave spontaneity and vividness to the scene portrayed. is the best example of this Impressionist era of Renoir paintings Renoir never forsook his traditional roots however, always admiring the old paint masters. In 1880 Renoir took his painting efforts to Italy where he began his classical painting era. Elaborate lines and details were of greater focus, with only five colors in any of these classical Renoir paintings, that’s when he created one of his most admired pieces.

Georgia O’Keefe paintings began in Texas, with outdoor scenes of the Palo Duro Canyon, redolent with formations of sandstone, orange mudstone, and white gypsum. She painted more than 50 watercolor O’Keefe paintings while she lived in Canyon Texas, and it was here that her first solo show opened in 1917.

The next year she returned to her native New York and the man she loved, who journeyed with her to the spectacular scenes of the Adirondack Mountain areas of Lake George. Many O’Keefe paintings show the splendor of the lake.

It was during the cold wintry New York months that O’Keefe began her most famous large flower paintings. The first of her O’Keefe flower paintings were completed in 1924.