The Real Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh died at the age of 37 in 1890

Last night my friend took me to see a play called Vincent at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

We didn't know much about it except that it was written by actor Leonard Nimoy, famously known for playing Spock on Star Trek. Apparently Nimoy had a life-long fascination of the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Not only did Nimoy write the play, he also performed it. 

He liked to paint scenes of everyday people

Vincent is based on more than 500 letters between van Gogh and his brother Theo, who were known to be very close. Theo owned an art gallery and was the one who financially kept his older brother afloat.

It turns out this is a one-man play was performed by Adam Harris, who I later found out during the intermission that he's a veterinarian by day! And this is not his first production! He previously performed Educating Rita, The Unknown Soldier, and Underneath the Lintel.

Harris is explosive from the start, with lots of energy to sustain the two-hour production. 

He plays Theo, who gathers us, his audience, as his friends to give his own personal memorial for Vincent who had recently succumbed to a gunshot wound in his chest. Theo says he was too distraught during the funeral to say anything but now seems prepared to speak, with several letters to help him paint a fuller picture of his brother.

There are some interesting details about van Gogh's life: He was hoping to become a minister and did preach in really poor parishes. Theo recounts that one time there was a terrible fire in a mine and one of the miners was left for dead but Vincent nursed him back to health.

A bandage around his head after cutting off his ear

And then he was socially awkward, falling in love with a cousin who was a widow, making the family mortified and terrified, as van Gogh could be emotional and stubborn.

He later fell for a "woman on the streets", who had two children and another on the way. Again his parents were hardly pleased and Theo had to financially look after all those mouths. Van Gogh finally left her.

Eventually he turned to painting but he was self-conscious and didn't want Theo to sell his pieces yet. He was emotionally fragile and doctors diagnosed him as being epileptic and was sent to recover in Arles, France.

That is where he became prolific in his paintings, and Theo reports Vincent would paint one or maybe even two canvases a day. We are then shown on a large screen a slide show of his works, some of which are famous, like The Starry Night, Sunflowers and Irises, and a few I have never seen before.

He then has an encounter with fellow artist Paul Gaugin, who Theo despises, because the meeting resulted in Vincent cutting his ear off and gifting it to a prostitute. His depression got worse and it is believed that contributed to him going into the fields to paint and shooting himself in the chest.

The Starry Night was shown during the play

Theo recalls in detail what they talked about before Vincent died, their childhood memories and asking for forgiveness for having his younger brother supporting him this whole time.

In the post script, Theo was so overcome by his brother's death that he too died less than a year later. Eventually Theo's remains were buried next to Vincent.

Harris as Theo is quite intense, with bursts of emotion that are explosive and thoughtful. He also sometimes plays Vincent, with darker lighting to illustrate this. He also reads Vincent's letters in his voice.

When Harris walked off stage to signal the intermission, we the audience had no idea what was happening until a female voice said there would be a 10-minute intermission!

My friend's friends who also went all said it was an intense play!

He was diagnosed as epileptic and depressed

Apparently Harris likes to do these one-man plays, perhaps making it easier for him to control the situation and not having to depend too much on others.

At the very end a woman came up on stage and sang Starry Starry Night which was a nice (and less emotional) finish.

Learned a lot more about van Gogh and glad to see this performance!

Vincent by Leonard Nimoy

Hong Kong Arts Centre McAulay Studio

November 18-20, 2021

Zhang Daqian's Masterful Style

On Route Switzerland-Austria, 1965

 

This afternoon I managed to catch the last day of a special exhibition of Chinese painter Zhang Daqian's work at Sotheby's Hong Kong. This year marks the 120th anniversary of the artist's birthday.

Dunhuang painting, 1942

Entitled "Zhang Daqian: The Master", the show features nearly 60 works from the artist's family and prominent private collections, many of these pieces either rarely or never before seen in public. Many of them are works that he gave to his daughter, Chang Hsueh-liang.

When I arrived at Sotheby's in One Pacific Place in Admiralty around 3pm, the place was already packed with people of various ages, eager to examine the artist's paintings and calligraphy. Strangely not all the works were captioned in English which were otherwise very helpful for me to further understand the paintings.

Nevertheless the pieces show an array of Zhang's styles that ranged from intricate line drawings to his famous splash ink paintings that verge on abstraction. He definitely pushed Chinese painting forward, still keeping with traditional philosophy, but very contemporary at the same time.

Zhang was born in 1899 in Neijiang, Sichuan province and learned traditional Chinese painting from several teachers, including his mother. He copied the works of ancient masters, refining his skills in painting landscapes, birds and flowers, and figures.

In the early 1940s he went to Dunhuang, Gansu province for three years, copying the Buddhist grotto paintings that deeply inspired him to learn more about art from the Tang dynasty. His observations of Tang-dynasty figures were later integral to developing his style.

The lotus is a favourite subject for Zhang, this painted in 1973

However, because of the impending revolution in China, Zhang left China in 1949 and went to live in places like Argentina, Brazil, California, and Taiwan. He became exposed to modern Western art developments, like the Abstract Expressionists, and even met Pablo Picasso. It was then that he began developing the splash ink style and using vivid mineral colours.

The exhibition has Zhang's line paintings from when he was in Dunhuang. There's a dynamic painting of a girl dancing with ribbons and it comes alive with elegance and grace. Another shows a woman presenting an offering in a flowing robe.

A particularly impressive painting is called Spring Clouds Amid Autumn Landscape done in 1948. He gave this painting to a friend of his (he had many friends he gifted with art) who turned 50 years old, and this particular painting is so detailed it's mind-boggling to think he painted every single pine needle on the trees and every wave in the sea. Not only does it show his attention to detail, but also his ability to paint so finely.

And of course Zhang is well known for his lotus paintings using the splash-ink style. The leaves are lively from his large brushstrokes, and yet anchored by the deliberate lotus flower stems that are detailed with dots on them. It's more about the leaves than the flowers themselves.

A screen of a landscape painting for Zhang's daughter

There is a screen that he gifted to his daughter Chang when she was getting married. It features an abstract landscape that spreads across several panels. Chang wrote that her father seemed sad about her leaving home soon and it took him a long time to finish the screen, as if hoping that if he didn't finish it, she wouldn't leave. But eventually he did finish it and her brother brought it over for her wedding.

The landscape paintings -- of places outside of China are very interesting because they are painted in a Chinese ink brush style, though viewers are encouraged to use their imagination. One called On Route Switzerland-Austria looks more like a Chinese landscape, but it has a brilliant colouring from the blue-green palette, evoking greenery, but also there is contrast from a waterfall in the distance that creates a giant mist further down, or are they clouds? that create a backdrop for the chalets on the mountains.

A woman Zhang painted that's printed on the foam of a coffee

What a treat to see all these paintings. I also got a cup of (cold) coffee -- with one of Zhang's paintings printed on the foam! A few of us took pictures of each other's coffee cups. One woman didn't want to drink her coffee to ruin her print-out of a woman's face. Eventually she did drink it...

Review: The Price of Everything

Artist Larry Poons on his way to his studio to paint in The Price of Everything

The art market is a fickle one, and it's just like the stock market -- it's a combination of experts who proclaim who's hot and who's not, fueled by media coverage and those who follow, wanting to get a piece of the action with lots of money involved.

Meanwhile the one who makes the actual art -- the artist -- continues to be the starving artist... well the ones who consider themselves purists.

That's the crux of The Price of Everything, a fascinating documentary by award-winning director Nathaniel Kahn.



We don't actually get to see Kahn, but we hear him periodically asking people questions -- how much is art worth? Is it really worth that much? Who's to say its value? And why did you buy it?

He talks to all kinds of people, including Amy Cappellazzo at Sotheby's who has masterminded an upcoming auction and she is so pleased with herself as she shows off the final proofs of the catalogue that will go to print.

Cappellazzo admits she is most excited about the chase; getting those pieces together. Now she's coasting and expect the sale will surpass US$100 million.

George Condo painting with an oil stick on canvas

Kahn talks to some of the artists whose works are featured in the upcoming sale, like George Condo, Gerhard Richter, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and Marilyn Minter.

We watch Condo create a painting from start to finish, building a base of thick colours all over the large canvas before drawing faces with a thick oil stick. Part way through working on the painting, he paints over half the canvas to repaint it over again, showing that artists are constantly working through their paintings -- it's not perfect the first time they put paint to canvas.

Meanwhile Minter's work is so intricate that it looks like a photograph of a woman behind a shower stall, insinuating sexual undertones. She laughs when people realize one of her paintings is actually someone's vagina and then have second thoughts of buying it. Nevertheless, she says money-wise she manages to get by without compromising herself.

Nigerian-born artist Crosby says she produces 12 works a year, but when the film was shot, she had a newborn baby, which cut down her production to about six to eight pieces. While she would like to make more art work, she feels she can't just churn them out -- they wouldn't have the same depth in terms of technique or meaning.

Jeff Koons explains how he works on all his pieces

However these artists contrast with Jeff Koons, who has a number of people working for him in a massive studio, at least two people working on each painting -- painstakingly copying masterpieces -- but the twist is adding half a shiny sphere to the work so that the viewer gets to be a part of the painting.

When Kahn asks Koons if he really is working on each piece, the American artist claims he is, having set up an intricate system of paints that he instructs his artists on how to apply them... he also says there is no way he could finish so much work unless he had help.

Others also suggest Koons knows how to play the game, able to sweet talk people into buying his work, from paintings to sculptures to his collaborated Louis Vuitton bags. He even manages to sell art futures -- how about buying a piece of art he's working on now that will be available in three years? Some collectors snap that up.

His star continues to rise, and he is the complete opposite of Larry Poons, a relatively reclusive artist who seemed to drop off the art world's radar several years ago so some people thought he wasn't even alive. But all he wants to do is just focus on his work -- he doesn't want to get involved in the dirty business of money. He lives a very simple life in the country, holed up in his studio painting very long canvases.

Wealthy art collector Stefan Edlis in his New York apartment

Many years ago he had a specific style of doing dots and gets annoyed that people only like this style and don't think artists can evolve to do other things. Poons keeps saying how he wants to be like Mozart and Beethoven.

Meanwhile Kahn also visits art collector Stefan Edlis and viewers can see his stunning collection of art all over the walls of his New York apartment. Kahn asks him how much some works were when he bought them. The usual refrain is around US$10 million. And how much are they worth now? Oh around US$100 million. Uh huh.

It's hard to tell if Edlis really is an art lover or he strictly looks at his art collection as good investments that happen to look pretty on his walls. He keeps track of them on an Excel spreadsheet.

A Jew originally from Germany, Edlis even has a statue called Him that is a mini version of Adolf Hitler in a brown tweed jacket kneeling, his eyes looking up to the right. Kahn asks Edlis about acquiring the statue, but he doesn't seem to care about the meaning behind it. Or is he trying to make Kahn feel silly for asking that question?

And then there's the art historians who are mortified by the business of art, and these works should really be in museums which are more democratic. Jerry Saltz, an art critic agrees, and says that each time he goes to an art auction he feels it will be the last time he will ever see the work in person because they will be sold and then never see the light of day, either because they are hung on someone's wall or worse kept in storage for no one to admire.

And after an exhilarating evening at Sotheby's seeing art works go for tens of millions of dollars, they really do end up in a non-descript suburb that has a giant storage facility -- for artwork.

Poons finally gets another showing, an art dealer who perhaps thinks the artist is undervalued and wants to make some money off of him. The paintings themselves are a gorgeous play of colour, mostly pastels, but again, what are these works really worth?

The Price of Everything
Director by Nathaniel Kahn
1 hour, 38 minutes

Picture of the Day: Kim Chong Hak's Flowers

Beautiful fantasy bouquet of flowers from Korean artist Kim Chong Hak

Next week is art week in Hong Kong with the massive show Art Basel on at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

His paintings are vivid and childlike, inspired by nature

It'll be interesting to see if buyers are still enthusiastic about parking their money in art or are having second thoughts and bursting the bubble.

Aside from the speculation, I like to see what's out there, what artists are doing, what mediums they are using, and yes how some pieces are so absurd that you wonder if they were made to dupe unsuspecting buyers?

Nevertheless, the above painting caught my eye. Korean artist Kim Chong Hak is 82 years old and still painting vigorously.

He has an over 50-year career in painting and it seems like he's not stopping anytime soon, which is why he is nicknamed the "Korean Picasso".

This giant long canvas is covered in brilliantly-coloured flowers -- apparently that's his thing, using quick brushstrokes to capture the essence of the them.

Kim once wrote in 2000:

Kim, now 82,  working in his studio

I look at the flowers over and over again, imprinting them in my mind, and then I draw them looking only at the canvas. I like the ones I draw fast. It doesn't work very well when going too slow, thinking too much... When drawn fast, details are weeded out and only the essence of the object remains.

So fantastic to see an artist boldly making his mark in his 80s and I can only hope that I can be just as active if I ever get there...!

Review: Loving Vincent

The film incorporates some of Vincent van Gogh's most famous works

Just saw a fantastic movie tonight -- Loving Vincent, that is almost near the end of its two-week run in theatres in Hong Kong.

It's a gorgeous film to watch -- though my dad says he found it difficult to watch because the entire film is painted on canvas -- animated second by second in 65,000 frames. It's understandable that it can be hard on the eyes, as dabs of paint are constantly moving as a person or image makes a movement, as it is painted in the style of Vincent van Gogh.

His self portrait compares with actor Robert Gulaczyk

One hundred and twenty-five artists were recruited to paint this first-ever film animated by paintings. Live actors did the scenes, and painters recreated them in van Gogh's painting style, incorporating 94 of his famous works in the film.

Not only that but the story line is fascinating too. There are different theories as to how van Gogh died -- did he kill himself or was he shot by someone else? This is what is explored in the film through the son of the postmaster who goes on a journey to discover the truth.

Van Gogh and his brother Theo exchanged letters frequently, which is why the postmaster, Roulin, is very familiar with the Dutch artist. The film starts a year after van Gogh's death where the postmaster has one last letter from van Gogh to his brother and instructs his son Armand to deliver it.

Postmaster Roulin (right) with his son Armand

However, Theo died soon after his brother passed away, and the postmaster's son doesn't know who to deliver the letter to. Each person he meets, such as Pere Tanguy who sold van Gogh painting supplies, Dr Gachet, his daughter Marguerite, and even a boatman, tell him a different story about van Gogh, his personality, his artistic talent, his being bullied by others, his financial troubles.

They also gives a different account of how or why van Gogh died, leaving Armand -- and us the viewers -- with a more rounded picture of the artist, whose parents felt he didn't live up to their expectations of their son, and so he was determined to make something of himself on his own terms.

At the age of 28 he picked up painting with no prior experience and within eight years he painted some 800 paintings -- more prolific that many artists in the same time span. However he only sold one painting in his lifetime, a tragedy that his brilliance and contribution to the impressionists was only discovered after his death.

Actor Chris O'Dowd, the original work, and the film's painting

Personally I found the film mesmerizing -- it was just amazing to see each frame had been painted in oil in the style of van Gogh. It definitely could not have been computer generated -- van Gogh would probably be horrified!

My friend YTSL remarked that the characters in the film were painted to look like the actual actors, who were chosen because they looked similar to the people in the original paintings.

Meanwhile, the backstory scenes of van Gogh's life are painted more realistically in black and white to differentiate between the past and present.

125 artists were recruited to paint each of the scenes

Loving Vincent is a labour of love and it shows. Co-director Dorota Kobiela also wrote the script; she was inspired after reading van Gogh's letters to Theo and studied his paintings, and wanted to incorporate them together.

It's a gorgeously rich film that deserves recognition for all the work put into it, in particular the passion and literally every brush stroke.

Loving Vincent

Directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman

95 minutes

Silk Road: Dunhuang Celebration

Learning about the story of the Mogao Grottoes through an outdoor show

To extend our Mogao Grottoes experience we got to see a show related to the caves. We didn't quite know what to expect, but then again, what else are you going to do in the evening in Dunhuang?

Our tour guide didn't know the show would be outside, so it did get a bit chilly, but given that an audience of several hundred were packed together, we were able to generate some body heat.

Special effects like these fire-related splashes were a bit much

The stands where the audience sat could move and it turned at right angles around four times to face four different stages. It's described as "luxury live desert theater", but how is it luxurious if you have to brave the natural elements? And the plastic seats aren't very comfortable... are we asking for too much?

The story is about a painter called Mo Ding who works in Dunhuang, painting in the caves. It is highly dubious that he and a princess fall in love, but we suspend our doubts, because there's conflict in that she is betrothed to a warrior leader in order to have peace in the area.

The smitten couple escape and hide for a while, but then the barbarian leader finds her and takes her back -- she apparently later dies of depression! In the end, Mo Ding continues his mission by expressing his love for her on the murals at Dunhuang.

Some of the projections are pretty neat, creating a 3D effect, or at least adding another layer to the production, while other scenes, like in Dunhuang town dancing in the streets and couples standing by windows were irrelevant. There were also some fire special effects used that again were not relevant to the story, but were there to keep the audience interested.

A romantic ending with some 3D projection

The ending was kind of tacky, women dressed in white with the dresses covered in LED lights, while Mo Ding and the princess danced on a huge crescent moon...

Having just been to New York where the performers on Broadway are thrilled to be on stage, the dancers here looked at it as a job, some appeared bored, others managed a smile or two.

The performers stood on or by the stage as the audience left, and a few elderly women pinched some of the young women's cheeks as if to check if they were real or not. Did the performers get this kind of treatment all the time? How bizarre!

It was an entertaining show for the most part, though it's heavily promoted by the government which makes us wonder who gets how much of a cut out of it. Since it's the only show in town, there's pretty much a captive audience every night...

Silk Road: Mogao Grottoes

The Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu province

About 10 years ago when I was in Beijing, I checked out an exhibition that was a replica of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.

There are over 400 caves, but only a handful shown publicly

I didn't know anything about them but it sounded fascinating and was so glad I went. Afterwards I was thinking, I have to see the real thing... wherever Dunhuang is!

It took me a decade to finally go see the place in person and it has to be appreciated on so many levels in terms of art, history, and society. It all started in 366AD, when a Buddhist monk named Le Zun was traveling in the area and had a vision of a thousand Buddhas. He built a cave here in hopes of reaching nirvana.

Others soon followed, digging out their own caves and began decorating them with paintings. It's here in these caves or grottoes that one can see not only the artistic skill that spans over 1,000 years, making it a kind of library of art history of that time, but also how Buddhism was depicted and studied.

Some caves reveal intricate artistic detail and vivid colours

Some pilgrims paid artisans to decorate caves for them, and so it must have become a mini industry in the middle of the desert to demonstrate their devotion to Buddha. Apparently there were some 1,000 caves, but when they were abandoned, the desert sands took over them; there are 735 left, of which almost 500 are decorated.

While most of the caves feature three Buddhas -- the present, past and future, along with musicians and dancers that seem weightless in the sky, there were also more down-to-earth portraits of wealthy patrons, such as the Cao family, featuring women in long robes and make-up. Others captured daily life, such as farming and the foods they ate.

Musicians in flowing robes performing for Buddha

We only saw about seven caves and the ones we saw were not all in good condition. Some figures had black faces, but that's because the pink colour had oxidized over the decades and centuries. Some caves had glaringly empty spots where sculptures used to be and had been stolen, or the "eyes" of Buddhist disciples scratched out because they used to have gold on them.

One cave had a giant Buddha lying on his side after death, his disciples mourning in grief, while another had Buddha standing up 75 feet tall.

Black faces are from oxidation of the paint on the walls

A reminder of foreign theft was shown in one cave that had stored 7,000 manuscripts including the Diamond Sutra that was published in 868AD and were gone, now in the British Library. The caves are individually locked with padlocks which our guide has to use a key to open each one and lock afterwards.

We were lucky to come here just before the Golden Week rush, so there wasn't a massive crowd of people, and we came early in the morning too. We wished we could see more, and the prime examples of caves, but alas, our guanxi wasn't good enough.

But just to have the experience of being in these caves and seeing the majesty of the art work was enough to satisfy our curiosity. Will we come back? Not sure, but at least we saw a slice of it.

Some have large statues housed in them with disciples

No wonder artists like Zhang Daqian came here to copy many of the murals, staying here for months at a time. I managed to see some of his works from his time there in August when there was an exhibition in Macau.

Picture of the Day: Emily Carr

Abstract Tree Forms is on show at the Vancouver Art Gallery now

The Vancouver Art Gallery has one of the best collections of BC artist Emily Carr's work. The museum's latest exhibition is called "Emily Carr: Into the Forest" focuses on one of her favourite topics, trees.

It also gives the VAG an opportunity to showcase Carr's work in a thematic way and showing her progression from a realist painter to more abstract.

One of the paintings I really liked was this one, called Abstract Tree Forms that was painted from 1931-32.

And in this case the tree has been pared down to sensual, curvaceous forms, and connecting one tree to the rest of the forest like undulating waves -- a sea of trees.

Nearby where this painting was hung was a timeline of Carr's life and it was interesting to note that in 1930, she had solo exhibitions in Ottawa, Victoria and Seattle. In the same year she also went to Toronto and New York, where she met American artist Georgia O'Keefe.

After that Carr paints this painting.

One can see clearly that in Abstract Tree Forms that O'Keefe's influence rubbed off on Carr.

We can only imagine the conversations they had! To be a fly on the wall back then! Both women were very independent, determined, stubborn, and they also had a mutual love for nature around them.

Emily Carr: Into the Forest

Until December 3, 2017

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street

Vancouver

www.vanartgallery.bc.ca

Learning More about Georgia O'Keefe

Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills encapsulates O'Keefe's art and life

Yesterday we went to the Brooklyn Museum to see Georgia O'Keefe: Living Modern that ends July 23. She is an artist I have admired for a long time and many years ago copied her paintings in pastel. She encouraged me to be fearless, using big strokes, and express myself through vibrant colours.

Four cream-coloured outfits O'Keefe made early in her life

We caught the museum's 1pm tour through the exhibit and the docent was very knowledgeable about O'Keefe and picked certain pieces to show how the curators presented the show.

It wasn't just about O'Keefe's paintings, but also her clothing, a few miscellaneous things from her home and many photographs of her in the clothing, hats and shoes that were also exhibited.

She was born in Wisconsin in 1887 and at a young age showed a talent for art. The family moved to Virginia and when she was a teenager studied at the School of Art Institute of Chicago.

Later she taught art and as our guide explained, after work she would work on her own art, creating abstract watercolours. A friend showed them to Alfred Stieglitz, a well known photographer and art dealer in New York who was impressed by such modern art by a female artist.

This painting was first shown at the museum

He sold some of her pieces -- over US$1,000 in the late 1920s which was a lot of money in those days -- and eventually the two fell in love. Stieglitz was married at the time with a daughter, and was 23 years older than O'Keefe, but he divorced and married O'Keefe.

They lived in Manhattan and one of the paintings shown in the exhibition was of the New York skyline -- something that was usually depicted by men and not women. But O'Keefe was keen to show that she too could do it too -- and just as well. Not only did she paint the skyscrapers, but also in pink, and with three flowers to give them a feminine touch.

At the time she was known for her flower paintings. Women usually painted flowers, but they were small most of the time. O'Keefe felt if she painted flowers really small, no one would notice, so why not big too, like skyscrapers?

She also insisted there wasn't any deeper meanings behind the some 200 flower paintings she made, as some tried to insinuate there were sexual meanings behind the works.

Pink skyscrapers and flowers

One of the paintings on show is called Black Pansy & Forget-Me-Nots painted in 1926 and our guide explained it was first shown in a solo exhibition O'Keefe had in the Brooklyn Museum in 1927.

At the show, one of her friends bought the painting and O'Keefe managed to persuade that person to donate it to the museum afterwards. O'Keefe also gave some of her works during her lifetime to the museum, and after her death.

Our guide pointed out that many of O'Keefe's clothes were monochromatic -- she didn't want to have to worry about colour in her wardrobe when she would rather focus on the colours of her canvas.

Featured in the exhibition are several items of clothing, cream-coloured dresses she made and they are very delicate and reveal her skill in dressmaking. There are also a trio of white blouses, one of which shows very fine tailoring and could very easily be worn today.

She also had a penchant for black with a bit of white contrasting, be it from the collar of a shirt or the cuffs of shirts sticking out from black blazers. Later on she was obsessed about the V-shape and many dresses and jackets had this shape, whether the neckline or pattern on dresses.

One of the delicate blouses O'Keefe made

As more of her work was sold, she and Stieglitz would move to higher floors in the hotel apartment building they lived in. And this wealth would also help O'Keefe become even more independent, buying a car and buying a home and then another one in New Mexico.

She first went there in 1929 thanks to the patronage of an heiress, and O'Keefe immediately fell in love with the place and kept going back there every year until she finally settled there.

In New Mexico she stopped wearing suits and adopted denim as her fabric of choice, wearing shirts, jeans and even fashioned a Chinese-style dress out of the blue cotton.

However, after O'Keefe's first visit to New Mexico for six months, she came back to New York to find Stieglitz was having an affair with another woman; O'Keefe was devastated and even suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized in 1933, mostly because her husband was continuing with the affair.

O'Keefe then finally moved to New Mexico in 1940, purchasing a home there, but then Stieglitz fell ill in 1946 with cerebral thrombosis and she flew back immediately to tend to him until he died in July that year.

A Chinese-style outfit she had made in HK

It took her three years to finally finish dealing with his estate before she permanently moved to New Mexico in 1949. There she was obsessed with painting a mountain called Cerro Pedernal.

One of her works, Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills painted in 1935 encapsulates O'Keefe with the animal skull, a flower and her favourite mountain.

Interestingly there are two outfits shown that have a Hong Kong connection. In 1959 and 1960 she traveled there and got some outfits made, one very east-meets-west, the other looking like a very masculine Chinese robe.

In 1972 she lost most of her eyesight due to macular degeneration and couldn't paint anymore, though photographers would make pilgrimages to New Mexico to take pictures of her. The show has portraits of her by Yousuf Karsh, Bruce Weber, Ansel Adams and Todd Webb.

Andy Warhol also wanted a piece of her and invited her to come to New York to The Factory where he made a silkscreen of her in the same colour as the adobe home she lived in, and was sprinkled with diamond dust. Wonder what she thought of that.

A portrait of O'Keefe in a kimono by Bruce Weber

O'Keefe died in 1986, just shy of her 99th birthday. Art historians like to say she was the first American contemporary artist. Apparently she bequeathed all her things to a very young assistant called Juan Hamilton and her siblings went to court to fight for estate. In the end it was settled out of court.

Learned so much about this remarkable woman and feel inspired by her artistry in art and in life.

Georgia O'Keefe: Living Modern

Until July 23, 2017

Brooklyn Museum

200 Eastern Parkway

Brooklyn

www.brooklynmuseum.org