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Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches
CR No. 772
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Alfred Stieglitz Collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1947.712
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A pale white cow's skull with horns sits at the center of the composition against a background of layers of white paper or fabric. Running through the center of the background is a plain black rectangular strip. Two white roses with soft petals bloom, one at the bottom and the other at the top of the skull.
CR No. 772
Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
Cow's Skull with Calico Roses
Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks.
General Remarks
Whitney Archive indicates, "In 1932 exh. for which I have no catalogue. See Gallery photograph (at An American Place): Infor. from Miss Bry (An Amer. Place) July, 1949: Given to AIC in 1948 as part of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection." Pictured in 1931–32 New York (An American Place) Stieglitz installation photograph, see Appendix III, figure 51. Titled Cow's Skull & Two White Roses by Stieglitz on Abiquiú Notebooks photograph; reproduced and titled Cow's Skull and White Roses in Art in America (1934); White Skull with White Roses in Knight Publications, plate 7 (1937). (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Inscriptions
No markings recto. Inscribed verso, top-left, on stretcher, in black ink: "47.712"; inscribed verso, top-left, on canvas, in black crayon: "47.712"; inscribed verso, top-middle, on canvas, in black ink: "47.712 / R9153"; inscribed verso, top-right, on stretcher, in graphite: "St[an]l. [underlined]"; stamped verso, right-middle, on stretcher, in red ink: "36 F. ANDERSON CO. / BROOKLYN, N. Y."; inscribed verso, right-bottom, on stretcher, in graphite: "32"; marked verso, top-left, on stretcher, in graphite: "X". Label missing verso, top-left, on stretcher. Label (rectangular, white) affixed verso, top-left, on backing, printed and typed in black ink: "THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / artist Georgia O'Keefe / title Cow's Skull with Calico Roses / medium oil on canvas / credit Gift of Georgia O'Keefe / acc. # 1947.712 / LZ-341-001 1M 1/90 (Rev. 1/90)"; label (rectangular, white) affixed verso, top-middle, on backing, printed and typed in black ink: "Dex ID 361 / [eagle] National Gallery of Art / Washington, DC / Exhibit: Modern Art and America: Alfred / Date: 01/28/01 - 04/22/01 / Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe / Title: Cow's Skull with Calico Roses / Lender: The Art Institute of Chicago // Cat No. 174"; two stickers (rectangular, white) affixed verso, top-middle and bottom-middle, on backing, typed in black ink: "Rigid Panel Insert"; three labels (rectangular, white) encapsulated and affixed verso, bottom-right, on backing, top label printed in black ink: "Two Lives: O'Keeffe and Stieglitz / #105 / Georgia O'Keeffe / Cow's Skull with Calico Roses / Crate 23" / middle label printed in black and yellow ink: "[cat logo] / Japan", "YAMATO TRANSPORT CO.,LTD. / FINE ARTS DIVISION / EXHIBIT. JAPAN 94' [Japanese characters / CASE / NO. 52", "CATAL. / NO.", sticker (round, green) affixed, printed in black ink: "56" / bottom label printed and typed in black ink: "[eagle] National Gallery of Art / Washington, D.C. / Exhibition: GEORGIA O'KEEFFE, 1887-1996 / Date: 1 Nov. 87 - 21 Feb. 88 Cat. #075 / Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe / Title: Cow's Skull with Calico Roses // Lender: The Art Institute of Chicago". Frame verso not inspected. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago, 2025)
Technique
Oil Painting
Materials
Oil on canvas
1987–1989
National Gallery of Art (NGA) (as Georgia O'Keeffe)
Art Institute of Chicago (as Georgia O'Keeffe)
Dallas Museum of Art (as Georgia O'Keeffe)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) (as Georgia O'Keeffe)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (as Georgia O'Keeffe)
1992–1993
The Phillips Collection (as Two Lives Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, A Conversation in Paintings and Photographs)
IBM Gallery of Science and Art (as Two Lives Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, A Conversation in Paintings and Photographs)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts (as Two Lives Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, A Conversation in Paintings and Photographs)
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFA H) (as Two Lives Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, A Conversation in Paintings and Photographs)
2024–2025
Art Institute of Chicago (as Georgia O'Keeffe: "My New Yorks")
High Museum of Art (as Georgia O'Keeffe: "My New Yorks")
1943
1944
1946
2001–2002
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (as O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection)
Milwaukee Art Museum (as O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection)
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (as O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection)
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), New York and New Mexico [letter from O’Keeffe to Daniel Catton Rich, Nov. 14, 1947; copy in curatorial object file]; given through the Alfred Stieglitz Collection to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1947. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago, 2025)
© Art Institute of Chicago
Version History
Core fields last updated 3/30/2026
Last verified by current collection Dec 10 2025
Source System ID
8787
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Conservation
Information is from the most recently submitted report, please contact the current owner to verify updated details.Information provided for Access O'Keeffe by Art Institute of Chicago in 2025.
The painting is executed on a single piece of pre-primed canvas nailed to a four-member keyable stretcher. The proper right stretcher member is stamped with the standard size (36) and manufacturer's information, which appears to refer to O. F. Anderson of Brooklyn, N.Y. The painted forms were worked up alongside one another leaving small gaps along the edges of forms where the ground is sometimes still visible. The ground is also visible intermittently amid the textured strokes of the pale background, offering moments of bright, untextured highlights. The work retains its original, unvarnished surface.
The painting is in stable condition; it is unlined and unvarnished with minimal grime or surface dirt. The stretcher has all keys present and was keyed out in 1991. A polybatting-insert backing was added in 2000 to reduce vibration of the canvas. There is widespread traction cracking throughout the browns (top and bottom) and a stretcher bar crack along the top stretcher bar near center. The painting is housed in a silver-leaf replica "clamshell" style frame.
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COPY CITATION
Georgia O'Keeffe. Cow's Skull with Calico Roses, 1931. Access O’Keeffe, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, https://access-ok.okeeffemuseum.org/object/8787.