Profile Text
Birth Name: Georgia Totto O’Keeffe
Date of Birth: November 15, 1887
Place of Birth: Sun Prairie, Dane, Wisconsin, U.S.
Date of Death: March 6, 1986
Place of Death: Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
Ethnicity: * father – Irish * maternal grandfather – Hungarian * maternal grandmother – Dutch, English, smaller amounts of Frisian, Belgian Flemish, French Huguenot, Swiss-German, and German
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American modernist painter and draftswoman. She is known for her detailed paintings of flowers, desert-inspired landscapes, animal skulls, and other natural views, often in close-up, and drawn from her own life and environment. She was called “the Mother of American modernism,” though her decades-spanning work often stayed outside trends. Early on, she worked as a commercial illustrator and university teacher, before undertaking charcoal drawings and abstract art. Her paintings include the Red Canna series, Black Iris , Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue , Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 , and Summer Days . She lived in New Mexico, at the Georgia O’Keeffe Home and Studio in Abiquiú, and later also Sante Fe. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum was established there.
Georgia was the daughter of Ida Ten Eyck (Totto) and Francis Calyxtus O’Keeffe, who were dairy farmers. Her sister was visual artist Ida O’Keeffe, who created oil paintings, watercolours, and monotypes. She was married to photographer and modern art promoter Alfred Stieglitz, until his death. The two had exhibited explicit photographs together.
Georgia’s paternal grandfather was Pierce O’Keeffe (the son of Michael O’Keeffe and Judith McCarty). Pierce was Irish, born in Gowran, County Kilkenny.
Georgia’s paternal grandmother was Catherine Mary “Kate” Shortall (the daughter of Patrick Shortall and Mary Cass). Catherine was Irish, born in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny. Patrick was the son of Pierce Shortall. Mary was possibly the daughter of John Cass and Catherine Murphy.
Georgia’s maternal grandfather was named George Victor Totto. George was born in Hungary.
Georgia’s maternal grandmother was Isabella/Isabel Dunham Wyckoff (the daughter of Charles Wyckoff and Alletta Maria Field). Isbella was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or New York City, New York, and had deep American roots, particularly Dutch and English ancestry. Charles was born in New York, New York, the son of Abraham Wyckoff and Isabella Dunham. Georgia’s great-grandmother Alletta was born in Bound Brook, Somerset, New Jersey, the daughter of John Field and Ida Ten Eyck.
Sources: Genealogies of Georgia O’Keeffe – https://famouskin.com https://www.geni.com https://www.findagrave.com https://gw.geneanet.org https://www.wikitree.com