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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Black Hills with Cedar, 1942
Image: okeeffe_CR1040_black-hills-with-cedar_794780.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Black Hills with Cedar, 1942
Oil on canvas, 16 x 30 inches
CR No. 1040
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981
Oil on canvas, 16 x 30 inches
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981
CR No. 1040

Two large, black hills with alternating black and tan strata loom over the composition. Smaller pink hills covered in crags flank the two larger formations. Two large, bright green sprigs of juniper and cedar hover at the bottom center of the canvas.

CR No. 1040

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Black Hills with Cedar

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

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Black Hills & Cedar, New Mexico

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

The Black Place – No. 3

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

Black Hills and Cedar

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

General Remarks

Whitney Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks indicate, "Painted in New York in 1942. . . Exam. at Amer. Place, March 1946 [note of backing inscriptions 1, 2]. Note: Miss O'Keeffe says this was painted in . . . New York in Jan. 1942." Backing inscriptions date 1941. Painted in New York and dated 1942 on basis of O'Keeffe letter: "I painted that blank canvas you sent me with a few vague lines on it—it is one of the best—a little bunch of the green and blue cedar you sent me down in the front of it—The black place back of it" (O'Keeffe to Maria Chabot, January 1942). Reproduced in American Artist (June 1943). (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Lynes date as 1942, Hirshhorn dates as 1941. (Source: Information provided for Access O'Keeffe by Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2026)

Inscriptions

Stretcher: inaccessible. Verso: inaccessible. Backing: 1. "Black Hills & Cedar, New Mexico – 1941 / by Georgia O'Keeffe" (Andrew Droth, Label: handwritten, "An American Place' / 509 Madison Ave —Room 1710 / (S.E. corner 53rd St) — New York", black ink) 2. "Georgia O'Keeffe / 59 East 54th City – New York / 'Black Hills & Cedar, New Mexico' – 1941 / An American Place, 509 Madison Ave. / New York, City (Room 1710)" (Alfred Stieglitz, Whitney Museum of American Art label, black ink) (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Signed and dated on label on backing in pen and ink: ...1941/By Georgia O' Keeffe Inscribed on label on backing in pen and ink: " An American Place"/ 509 Madison Ave- Room 1710/ (S.E. corner 53rd St.)- New York/ Black Hills & Cedar, New Mexico- (Source: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2026)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

Downtown Gallery, New York
Forum Gallery, New York, to 16 May 1974
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, New York and Washington, DC, 16 May 1974-31 August 1981
Estate of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1981-1986
Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981
(Source: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2026)

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 4/22/2026

Last verified by current collection Mar 02 2026

Source System ID

8961

Other IDs

1040, Catalogue Raisonné

Conservation

Information is from the most recently submitted report, please contact the current owner to verify updated details.
REPORT NOTES

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.

CONDITION NARRATIVE

"Surface Coating B67 acryloid in benzine. Applied by Felrath Hines April 1970" (typed label).