Information provided for Access O'Keeffe by Art Institute of Chicago in 2025.

The painting is executed on what appears to be a commercially prepared support. The canvas is primed with white which extends to the edges of the tacking margins and is attached with tacks to a four-member keyable stretcher; standard size for height and width (12 and 30 inches, respectively) are marked with stamped impressions on all four stretcher members. The canvas is trimmed flush with the verso of the stretcher and the corners neatly folded. There are several features of the technique that would normally suggest the artist began with a basic compositional sketch, however no drawing or painted sketch is readily visible in reflected infrared imaging or with stereomicroscopic examination. The transmitted infrared image offers one clue to possible compositional planning: an abandoned contour along the top of the red hills near the center that appears to be drawn. Amid the varied colored strokes of the shrubs, the ground is often visible suggesting they were executed first and the hills brought in around them. In other areas, in spaces between branches where the red hills below should be visible, O'Keeffe applied earthy red and peachy-pink paint on top of or amid them to achieve this effect. The larger forms were brought up and over one another so that the edges slightly overlap, all but obscuring any possible indications of underdrawing that may be present. Whether it was planned or executed freehand directly on the canvas, O’Keeffe made few, if any, changes throughout the work’s execution. The artist executed the work in a limited number of wet-in-wet campaigns. Much of the painting was executed using either flat-tipped, stiff-bristle brushes that leave the surface characteristically textured or a painter’s or palette knife. In some cases, the enhanced texture of stiff bristles cutting through paste-like paint is next to flat planes of knife-applied color, as in the foreground shadow. The shrubs are painted in many colors wet-into- and onto-wet with limited mixing. The brightest white details were added in a separate, perhaps final campaign. The work retains its original metal frame and artist’s cardboard backing. The frame appears to be a non-ferrous metal frame with electroplated copper on the lower half and white-metal along the top and partially down the sides to align with the horizon in the landscape. Examination of the frame from the inside reveals evidence of graphite markings on either side indicating the proposed stopping point of the white metal, and that it initially covered most of both sides. At some point after its initial plating, the silver was removed from the outwardly visible faces of the frame, but remains along the inside where the frame is in contact with the painting. Examination with UV suggests the frame is coated with lacquer to prevent corrosion and the screws holding it to the painting were chosen for their tone to match each metal.

The painting has had two known treatments, both documented on labels on the verso. In 1948, according to the label, the work was varnished with n-butyl methacrylate. In 1963, the work was treated again and varnished, but it is unclear from the information provided on the label if this later treatment included removing the earlier coating before applying another or the reason for this intervention. All eight of the stretcher keys appear to be a different wood and tone than the stretcher, suggesting they were part of a conservation campaign. Two extra sets of holes in line with those holding the frame to the canvas suggest that at some point the frame may have been modified to accept glazing with and without an added liner (now lost). The canvas appears to retain its original stretching. Tension of the support is adequate to slightly slack, with cracks forming along both the bead and inside edge of the stretcher members; there is also slight buckling of the canvas visible in raking light. There is mild cracking in some of the more thickly painted areas, specifically those where the paint was applied with a palette knife, such as the lighter portions of the sky. Small protrusions, visible in raking light and stereomicroscopic examination appear to be metal soaps. They are visible in many areas of the work, but most prevalent in the stretch of sky at right, between the heavy white clouds and the bluish silhouettes of distant plateaus. The synthetic varnish is in good condition, producing an even sheen that is not distracting, and there is no visible build-up of grime on the surface.

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 butyl methacrylate polymer, March, 1948. By Keck" (Keck typed label); "8/63 co-polymer Iso and n-butyl methacrylate 2223" (Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories typed label).