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Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches
CR No. 1037
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Crocker Art Museum Purchase with matching funds from the National Endowment for the Arts
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The back of a human skull is visible at the center of the composition. Behind and encircling the skull is a partially shattered, greenish-black ceramic pot. Patches of orange and blue surround the objects, forming a textured background.
CR No. 1037
Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
It Was a Man and a Pot
Source of title: backing inscription, Whitney Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks.
Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
Head with Broken Pot #2
Source of title: Downtown Gallery Archive.
General Remarks
Backing inscription in museum files: "'It Was a Man and a Pot'/1942" (Andrew Droth, graphite). Whitney Archive indicates, "Exam. at Amer. Place, April 1946" [notes backing inscription]. The skull was given to O'Keeffe by her friend John Candelaria, on basis of Stieglitz–O'Keeffe correspondence. See cat. no. 1046. (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Inscriptions
On verso, Signed: Signed Dated: Dated Description: Mark reads: "It was a Man and a Pot / 1942" also signed. (Source: Crocker Art Museum, 2025)
Technique
Oil Painting
Materials
Oil on canvas
1952
1984
2003–2004
2014–2016
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Art Museum of South Texas
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
Tacoma Art Museum
2021–2022
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Centre Georges Pompidou
Fondation Beyeler
[Not provided by contributing organization as part of the 2025 catalogue review.]
© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Version History
Core fields last updated 6/10/2026
Last verified by current collection Sep 03 2025
Source System ID
8958
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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.
"Treated 8/63 Co polymer iso and n-butyl methacrylate 2219" (Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories typed label).
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