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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
The Black Place, 1943
Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Image: okeeffe_CR1058_the-black-place_871274.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
The Black Place, 1943
Oil on canvas, 19 15/16 x 36 inches
CR No. 1058
Alfred Stieglitz Collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1969.834
Oil on canvas, 19 15/16 x 36 inches
Alfred Stieglitz Collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1969.834
CR No. 1058

Soft, gray hills stretch across the composition. A few small crags interrupt the smooth planes of the hills. Near the bottom of the work, the gray hills meet tan, flat earth. A strip of blue sky is visible above.

CR No. 1058

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

The Black Place

Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks, 1944 New York (An American Place) exhibition checklist.

General Remarks

Whitney Archive indicates, "Exam at Amer. Place, March 1946.. . . No signature. Infor. from Miss Bry (An American Place), July 1949: On permanent loan to the AIC from Georgia O'Keeffe as part of the Alfred Stieglitz Coll. Miss Bry said it was the oblong mountains. Also called 'Black Place Painted Grey.'" "[The Black Place].. . was painted in summer when the sun seems to burn the color out of everything" (O'Keeffe to Caroline Fesler, undated, museum files). (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

No markings recto. Stamped verso, top-left and bottom-right, impressed: "[3]6"; stamped verso, top-right, impressed: "[2]0"; stamped verso, bottom-left, impressed: "20". Markings and labels on foamcore backing: label (rectangular, white) affixed verso, top-middle, printed and typed in black ink: “FROM / THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60603, U. S. A. / To / “#1969.834 / O'KEEFFE, GEORGIA / "The Black Place”". Frame verso not inspected. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago, 2025)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), New York and New Mexico, then Abiquiú, NM, from 1949 [on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago from 1949; letter from Georgia O’Keeffe to Charles C. Cunningham, Dec. 9, 1969; copy in curatorial object file]; given through the Alfred Stieglitz Collection to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1969. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago, 2025)

Credits & Rights

© Art Institute of Chicago

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 3/30/2026

Last verified by current collection Dec 10 2025

Source System ID

10175

Other IDs

1058, Catalogue Raisonné

Conservation

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

Information provided for Access O'Keeffe by Art Institute of Chicago in 2025.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

The painting is executed on a single piece of canvas tacked to a four-member keyable stretcher with standard size markings (20 and 36, respectively) imprinted on the bars. The work is thinly painted and the canvas texture remains visible throughout.

CONDITION NARRATIVE

The painting is unlined and appears unvarnished with a relatively matte surface. Two of the eight stretcher keys are missing and the corners are nailed closed. The canvas is slightly slack with a slight dip and buckling at the upper right. Debris between the stretcher bar and canvas is causing a curving bulge along the lower edge, right of center. There is a stretcher bar crack along the top. The tacking margins are taped and the work is housed in the artist's original silver-tone thin-profile metal frame.