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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Untitled (Houses and Landscape), 1916
Courtesy of Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Photo: Tim Nighswander/IMAGING4ART
Image: okeeffe_CR96_untitled-houses-and-landscape_789789.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Untitled (Houses and Landscape), 1916
Watercolor on paper, 8 7/8 x 12 inches
CR No. 96
Gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation
2006.5.31
Watercolor on paper, 8 7/8 x 12 inches
Gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation
2006.5.31
CR No. 96

Watercolor sketch of houses and landscape. There are two houses, the one that is slightly larger is located closer to the left side of the paper, the smaller house is closer to the right side of the paper. The walls of the houses are purple and the roofs are red. The houses are situated slightly above the center of the paper and the front of the paper is dominated by an expanse of light green which fades to yellow as it gets nearer to the houses. In the background, behind the houses, there are dark blue mountains. There is a strip of sky which is white, tinged with blue around the edges of the paper.

CR No. 96

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Untitled (Houses and Landscape)

Source of title: image.

General Remarks

Not recorded Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks. Completed in Virginia before August move to Texas. See cat. no. 95. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

Verso: "La Jan to Aug.16" (graphite) (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Watercolor

Materials

Watercolor on paper

Extended Medium Description

Watercolor on moderately thick, cream, smooth paper with a slightly fuzzy feel
(Source: Paper Survey researched by Judith C. Walsh and published in Lynes, 1999.)

Estate of the artist, 1986
Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, 1993
Gift to Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 2006
(Source: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, 2025)

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 8/26/2026

Source System ID

573

Other IDs

96, Catalogue Raisonné

Conservation

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

Support: The support is medium-thick, cream-colored, smooth-wove paper. The paper is stable but exhibits areas of mechanical damage that are characteristic of the artist's exhibition, handling, and storage of the work over her lifetime. The damages present themselves as creases at the edges, indentations, and minor abrasions at the corners. Cockling of the paper is seen along the top, bottom, and left edges.

Design Layers: The paints have been applied over graphite line under-drawing in light washes and more thickly applied areas of pigment. Wide brush strokes have been applied primarily throughout the watercolor. Washes of color often overlap. Pulling a wash of the green foreground toward the bottom of the paper has left a more saturated "bleed" line at the bottom of the image. Occasional puddles of rich color occur in some areas. Paint used on the houses has a rich, almost syrupy quality. At the lower left side is a translucent blue-green media transfer stain where color was either smudged or bled beyond the design layer. There is a light, perhaps errant, pencil mark on the right side just above the blue of the mountains. Paints were characterized using XRF and Raman spectroscopy using the 2008 microfade analysis to determine sensitive paints and the rate of fade/required lighting.

Framing, Backing, and Hanging Hardware: The work has been framed in a new, standard Georgia O'Keeffe Museum white-wash maple frame with secondary poplar and basswood backing, and a strainer with Acid-Free faced Fome-Cor insulation panels. The glazing is Optium® tinsalt-coated, UV-absorbing, static-free, non-reflective acrylic. The mat consists of an 8-ply off white museum board mat hinged to a 4-ply off-white museum board backing. There are two hinges on the top and one on each side edge.

CONDITION NARRATIVE

The watercolor appears stable, and the hinges secure. A series of deep creases is present at the upper left corner. Smaller creases are found at the top edge, to the right of center, and at the left edge, below the deeper creases. Creases from handling with planar distortion are found at the lower left and, particularly, the lower right edge. These may be evidence of the artist’s handling, storage, and exhibition during her lifetime. Abrasions are present at all four corners, as well as in a small area near the top-left corner.

The watercolor has overall superficial dust and surface soiling. Additionally, there are a few insect specks scattered on the surface. There is minor cockling along the top, bottom, and left edges. No records were found indicating any prior conservation treatment.