Skip to main content
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Papaw Tree, ʻĪao Valley, Maui, 1939
Courtesy of Honolulu Museum of Art.
Image: okeeffe_CR982_papaw-tree-iao-valley-maui_858491.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Papaw Tree, ʻĪao Valley, Maui, 1939
Oil on canvas, 19 x 16 inches
CR No. 982
Gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, 1994 (7894.1)
Oil on canvas, 19 x 16 inches
Gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, 1994 (7894.1)
CR No. 982

A tall papaw tree with a smooth brown trunk and rounded masses of green leaves rises through the center of the composition. Tall green and blue mountains stand behind the tree, cutting diagonally through the composition. White mist and clouds hover over the scene.

CR No. 982

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Papaw Tree, ʻĪao Valley, Maui

Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks.

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Papaw Tree, ʻĪao Valley, Maui, T.H.

Papaya Tree – ʻĪao Valley

Alternate Title

Papaw Tree, ʻĪao Valley, Maui (Papaya Tree)

Source of title: Honolulu Museum of Art. This was the original title as far as the Honolulu Museum of Art can determine, but was changed to "Papaya Tree" at some point without noting reason for change. It appears in older publications with this title. Curator K. Love decided to use this title when reinstalled in March 2019.

Selected Exhibition Titles

Papaya Tree, ʻĪao Valley, Maui
Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawai'i, 2018, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (Memphis)

General Remarks

Whitney Archive indicates, "Exam. at Amer. Place, March 1946" [notes backing inscription]. See cat. no. 1918. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

Backing: 1. "Papaw Tree / Iao Valley, Maui, T. H. / 1939 / by Georgia O'Keeffe" (Alfred Stieglitz, graphite) 2. Label: handwritten, "An American Place' / 509 Madison Ave —Room 1710 / (S.E. corner 53rd St) — New York"1 (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation
(Source: Honolulu Museum of Art, 2025)

Credits & Rights

© Honolulu Museum of Art

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 10/15/2026

Last verified by current collection Sep 03 2025

Source System ID

8932

Other IDs

982, Catalogue Raisonné

Conservation

Information is from the most recently submitted report, please contact the current owner to verify updated details.
REPORT NOTES

Published with corresponding artwork entry in Georgia O’Keeffe: Catalogue Raisonné (Lynes, 1999), this historical conservation information documents treatment decisions made during the artist’s lifetime. Lynes quotes information found on backing labels, and, when noted, from other sources.

CONDITION NARRATIVE

"Sprayed with butyl methacrylate polymer, March, 1948, by Keck" (Keck typed label); "October 1962 Co-polymer Iso and N. Butyl Methacrylate 1957" (Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories typed label).