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Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches
CR No. 919
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Vertical compositions of two large white conical shells with large black conical shell between them.
CR No. 919
Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
Two White Shells One Black Shell
Source of title: stretcher inscription.
Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
Three Shells
Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks.
Shell I
Shells
General Remarks
Whitney Archive indicates, "Miss O'Keeffe says painted 1937. See gallery photograph." Abiquiú Notebooks after 1977 indicates, "Sold by Halpert . . . May, 1959." Pictured in 1937–38 New York (An American Place) Stieglitz installation photograph, see Appendix III, figure 68. (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Inscriptions
Stretcher: "Two White Shells One Black Shell 1937" (graphite). Verso: inaccessible. Backing: 1. OK {5star} (graphite) 2. "New York – N.Y." (Art Institute of Chicago label, black ink) 3. Label: handwritten, "An American Place' / 509 Madison Avenue / New York — N.Y. / Georgia O'Keeffe" 4. "Three Shells" (Andrew Droth, graphite) 5. Stamp: "Georgia O'Keeffe / An American Place / Room 1710— 509 Madison Ave. / New York — N.Y." (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Technique
Oil Painting
Materials
Oil on canvas
1943
1955
1988–1989
1990–1991
1993
(The Downtown Gallery, New York, NY); Private collection, Naples, Florida, 1959; (Harold Diamond, New York, NY); (Doris Bry, New York, NY); Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1978; Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1981; (Andrew Crispo Gallery, Inc., New York, NY); Sovereign American Arts Corporation, New York, NY, 1983; S. R. Koman, Inc., Winchester, Virginia, 1983; Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1987 (Source: Lynes, 1999)
© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Version History
Core fields last updated 10/29/2026
Last verified by current collection
Source System ID
8887
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Conservation
Information is from the most recently submitted report, please contact the current owner to verify updated details.Published with corresponding artwork entry in Georgia O’Keeffe: Catalogue Raisonné (Lynes, 1999), this historical conservation information documents treatment decisions made during the artist’s lifetime. Lynes quotes information found on backing labels, and, when noted, from other sources.
"Sprayed with a solution of N-Butyl isobutyl Methacrylate Copolymer resin as a final protective surface coating July 3 1955" (blue-bordered typed label; date, black ink).
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Georgia O'Keeffe. Two White Shells One Black Shell, 1937. Access O’Keeffe, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, https://access-ok.okeeffemuseum.org/object/8887.