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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Light Coming on the Plains No. I, 1917
Courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
Image: okeeffe_CR209_light-coming-on-the-plains-no-i_857662.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Light Coming on the Plains No. I, 1917
Watercolor on paper, newsprint*, 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches
CR No. 209
Watercolor on paper, newsprint*, 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches
CR No. 209

Layers of arched blue shapes radiate out from a green, sun-like form at the bottom center of the abstract composition. Below the sun form are two horizontal bands of blue and green. Overall, the composition evokes a sun rising or setting over a horizon, giving off layers of light in a blue sky.

CR No. 209

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Light Coming on the Plains No. I

Source of title: inscription, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks, inscription in museum files: "Light Coming on the Plains No. I/1917/WaterColor on Paper/12 x 9/Baker 24–694" (label printed, O'Keeffe (red-bordered), black ink).

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Light Coming on the Plains I

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

General Remarks

Not recorded Whitney Archive. See cat. no. 81. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Watercolor

Materials

Watercolor on paper, newsprint*

Extended Medium Description

Watercolor on thin, beige, smooth wove paper, newsprint
(Source: Paper Survey researched by Judith C. Walsh and published in Lynes, 1999.)

Credits & Rights

© Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 4/22/2026

Source System ID

8351

Other IDs

209, Catalogue Raisonné