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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Dark Abstraction, 1924
Image: okeeffe_CR451_dark-abstraction_713813.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Dark Abstraction, 1924
Oil on canvas, 24 7/8 x 20 7/8 inches
CR No. 451
Oil on canvas, 24 7/8 x 20 7/8 inches
CR No. 451

Two large, dark forms, one green and the other red, dominate this abstract work. The green form occupies the left two thirds of the composition, meeting with the red form and creating a white seam running down the right side of the canvas. The tops of the two forms are in lighter shades of their respective colors. Above the forms, a thin strip of white fades into black. Overall, the work resembles a cross section of two geologic landforms meeting under a darkening sky.

CR No. 451

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Dark Abstraction

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

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Abstraction

General Remarks

Whitney Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks indicate, "Exam. at Amer. Place, March 1946. . . . No signature On backing: In pencil, title and date as above" ["Dark Abstraction 1924" –– not verified]. O'Keeffe inscription on cardboard backing in pencil indicated in museum files: "'Dark Abstraction' 1924/An American Place2/Georgia O'Keeffe☆{5star}; On stretcher: Sept 18–20 Dark Abstraction OK ☆{5star} Dark Abstraction 1924." Pictured in 1924 New York (Anderson) Stieglitz installation photograph, see Appendix III, figure 24. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

Stretcher: inaccessible Verso: inaccessible (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

(The Downtown Gallery, New York, NY); Charles E. and Mary Merrill, St. Louis, Missouri, 1946 (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 4/22/2026

Source System ID

8540

Other IDs

451, Catalogue Raisonné