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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Purple Hills, 1935
Image: okeeffe_CR870_purple-hills_794108.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Purple Hills, 1935
Oil on canvas, 16 x 30 inches
CR No. 870
San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. an dMrs. Norton S. Walbridge
Oil on canvas, 16 x 30 inches
San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. an dMrs. Norton S. Walbridge
CR No. 870

Tall, green, brown, and purple hills stretch across the composition. The dark hills contrast with a blue sky with a sweeping white cloud in the upper left corner.

CR No. 870

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Purple Hills

Source of title: backing inscription 1.

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Purple Hills – Near Abiquiú

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

Purple Hills Near Abiquiú

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

General Remarks

Whitney Archive indicates, "Exam at Amer. Place, March 1946. No signature. . . [notes of inscription 1 and Georgia O'Keeffe inscription 2]. Compared photograph with painting." Abiquiú Notebooks indicates the work was in 1936 New York (An American Place) as no. 5, but it is not included on the checklist; each painting on the checklist has been identified, so this Abiquiú Notebooks reference is an error. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

Backing:

  1. "Purple Hills Ghost Ranch— 35"{Ghost Ranch crossed out} (graphite)
  2. OK {5star} (graphite)
  3. "Purple Hills — Near Abiquiu / 1935" (Andrew Droth, Label: handwritten, "An American Place' / 509 Madison Avenue / New York — N.Y. / Georgia O'Keeffe", black ink)
  4. "Box 31 Ion 9" (Doris Bry, black ink) (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

Doris Bry, New York, New York ( - 1971)
Georgia O'Keeffe, New York, New York (1935 - )
Mr. and Mrs. Norton S. Walbridge, La Jolla, California (1971 - January 14, 1977)
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California (January 14, 1977 - )
(Source: SDMA website, 2025)

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 6/10/2026

Last verified by current collection 2025

Source System ID

570

Other IDs

870, Catalogue Raisonné