He was one of the most famous artists of his time, but it was her name that would go down in history. Between the two of them, they uplifted and inspired one another, and exchanged nearly 5,000 letters over the course of their 30-year marriage.
In 1910s New York, Alfred Stieglitz was a pillar of the art scene. He was an internationally acclaimed photographer and owner of a popular avant-garde gallery in Manhattan. Stieglitz was one of few artists at the time using photography as a medium, and it is due to his significant influence that it is considered an art form today.
In 1916 a friend of Stieglitz showed him the work of a virtually unknown artist that would change his life forever.
At the time, Georgia O’Keeffe was teaching painting to students in West Texas. She sent some abstract charcoal drawings to a friend of hers in New York, who in turn showed them to Stieglitz. He immediately recognized her skill and would be the first person to exhibit her work that same year– so enthusiastically, that he forgot to get her permission before organizing the exhibit.
It was this interaction that would begin their decades-long romance and correspondence, sometimes writing to one another up to three times a day while they were separated.
"I'm getting to like you so tremendously that it sometimes scares me... Having told you so much of me—more than anyone else I know—could anything else follow but that I should want you?”--O'Keeffe to Stieglitz, Canyon, Texas, Nov. 4, 1916.
Their relationship was not without significant complications, Stieglitz was married and 24 years O’Keeffe’s senior. But he had found “his twin” in her, and in 1917 he divorced his first wife. A year later O’Keeffe began making plans to move to New York.
"What do I want from you? Sometimes I feel I'm going stark mad. That I ought to say–Dearest— You are so much to me that you must not come near me—Coming may bring you darkness instead of light—And it's in Everlasting light that you should live.”--Stieglitz to O’Keeffe, Manhattan, New York May 26, 1918
The pair began living together almost immediately after O’Keeffe’s arrival in New York. Six years later in 1924, they were married.
While the pair formed an incredible artistic power couple, and nobody could claim they did not share a deep and profound love of the other, they struggled internally. O’Keeffe wanted a child, Stieglitz did not. They also spent the summers living with his parents in Lake George, New York, cramping O’Keeffe’s style.
"I want to know you, strong and well, I want to know you free. I know you are a woman, first and always. I know you need a home, a child. Those take a man to give you. I am not a man. That’s my curse.”--Stieglitz to O’Keeffe, Manhattan, New York May 26, 1918
Still, Stieglitz supported O’Keeffe’s burgeoning career. He served as her benefactor and she as his muse. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Stieglitz would photograph O’Keeffe. Nude photos of her would cause uproar and win him acclaim in equal measure.
In 1929, O’Keeffe took the first of one of many legendary trips to New Mexico that would redefine her artistic style and career. She fell in love with the colors and natural landscape and drew heavily from local Hispanic and Native American influences. For the next 20 years, she would spend her summers living and working in New Mexico, often to the frustration of her husband.
"There is much life in me — when it was always checked in moving toward you — I realized it would die if it could not move toward something...I chose coming away because here at least I feel good, and it makes me feel I am growing very tall and straight inside, and very still. Maybe you will not love me for it, but for me, it seems to be the best thing I can do for you, I hope this letter carries no hurt to you. It is the last thing I want to do in the world.”--O’Keeffe to Stieglitz, Taos, New Mexico, July 9th 1929
Stieglitz on the other hand writes, “I am broken.”
Their relationship, despite occurring a century ago, was ahead of its time. O’Keeffe enjoyed a freedom many women did not and was able to explore her craft and artistic sensibilities. Yet it was not without the tensions that exist in many marriages today; the push and pull between love and ambition, career and family, and the desire to love another while also becoming the truest version of oneself.
The incredible life, careers, and immense love of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz continued to play out in their letters until he died in 1946, after which she moved to New Mexico full-time.
"I have not wanted to be anything but kind to you — but there is nothing to be kind to you if I cannot be me — And me is something that reaches very far out into the world and all around — and kisses you — a very warm — cool — loving — kiss —”--O’Keeffe to Stieglitz, Taos New Mexico, July 9th 1929
To read their letters in full, you can purchase My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz edited by Sarah Greenough.
For More Information Visit:
“About Georgia O’Keeffe” Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
Stamberg, Susan, “Stieglitz And O'Keeffe: Their Love And Life In Letters” NPR, July 21 2011
