|
Oil on canvas, 40 x 32 inches
CR No. 669
|
A black cross stretches across the length of the canvas. Visible behind the cross is a landscape with a dark red sky and dark blue mountains below. Just in front of the mountains are rolling brown and green hills.
CR No. 669
Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
Cross with Red Sky
Source of title: backing inscription.
Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)
Black Cross with Red Sky
Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks. (Title used by private collector.)
Selected Exhibition Titles
Black Cross with Red Sky
Georgia O'Keeffe: The Poetry of Things, 1999, The Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.)
General Remarks
Whitney Archive indicates, "Painted 1929." "I think it a good picture of this world here. The sky is a bright dark red—mountains a bright dark blue. . It is a black cross in front of the Taos Mountain" (O'Keeffe to Edith Halpert, 13 August 1958, Archive of American Art). "I sent the cross to that Dallas religious show and it returned with a hole in it and a bad stretcher mark from bad packing so I sent it to Keck as it needed to be sprayed" (O'Keeffe to Edith Halpert, 13 August 1958, Archive of American Art). O'Keeffe wrote: "One evening when I was living in Taos we walked back of the morada toward a cross in the hills.... If I turned a little to the left, away from the cross, I saw the Taos mountain — a beautiful shape. I painted the cross against the mountain although I never saw it that way. I painted it with a red sky and I painted it with a blue sky and stars" [see cat. no. 668] (Georgia O'Keeffe [1976], unpaginated, text accompanying entry 64). Pictured in 1930 New York (An American Place) Stieglitz installation photograph, see Appendix III, figure 33. See cat. nos. 1846–48. (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Inscriptions
Stretcher: inaccessible. Verso: inaccessible. Backing: "Cross with Red Sky / 1929 / Oil on canvas / 40 x 32" (Label: printed, O'Keeffe (red-bordered), black ink) (Source: Lynes, 1999)
Technique
Oil Painting
Materials
Oil on canvas
1944–1946
Skidmore College
Indiana University Bloomington
Quincy Art Center
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Flint Institute of Arts
Illinois State Museum
Munson Museum
Williams College Museum of Art
Cornell Univeristy College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Dallas Museum of Art
The Monticello College Foundation
University of New Hampshire
Cranbrook Art Museum
1966
1984
1986
Hirschl & Adler Galleries
Gerald Peters Gallery
1993–1994
Hayward Gallery
Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes
Yokohama Museum of Art
1997–1998
1998–1999
1999–2000
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Dallas Museum of Art
The Phillips Collection
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
2018–2019
2019
2020–2021
© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Version History
Core fields last updated 8/26/2026
Last verified by current collection
Source System ID
9164
| Date | Field | Changed From | Changed To |
|---|---|---|---|
| mm/dd/yyyy | Artist | Changed from data | Changed to data |
| mm/dd/yyyy | Main title | Changed from data | Changed to data |
| mm/dd/yyyy | Year | Changed from data | Changed to data |
| mm/dd/yyyy | Media | Changed from data | Changed to data |
| mm/dd/yyyy | Credit line | Changed from data | Changed to data |
| mm/dd/yyyy | Provenance | Changed from data | Changed to data |
DOWNLOAD IMAGE
Terms of use
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is dedicated to fostering access to its collections to inspire education, research, and creative engagement. Through Access O'Keeffe, the Museum’s digital catalogue raisonné project, we provide free tools for engaging with Georgia O'Keeffe’s full body of work. As part of this initiative, we encourage the download of low-resolution images for educational and fair use purposes.
Certain works by Georgia O'Keeffe are under the copyright of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, while others are managed by different rights holders. For commercial uses, users must seek authorization directly from the respective copyright holder.
By downloading and using these images, users agree to the following terms and conditions of use including the Museum’s reproduction guidelines. Users will play a vital role in preserving the integrity of the artist’s work while supporting broader public access.
Permitted Uses
Fair Use:
Images may be used under fair use principles for purposes such as:
- Educational: Use in teaching materials, presentations, and coursework
- Research and scholarship: Academic research articles, theses, dissertations and noncommercial publications
- Creative projects: Reference or inspiration for personal artwork, such as sketches, paintings, or digital art, if the works are not sold or used commercially.
Conditions of Use
By downloading images of artwork from Access O'Keeffe, users agree to adhere to the Museum’s reproduction guidelines for artwork by Georgia O'Keeffe. Images must not be altered, manipulated, or modified in any way that compromises their integrity or misrepresents the original work. Specifically, artworks may not be cropped, distorted, or subjected to the following alterations:
- Cropping
- Rotation, inversion, or changes to the original proportions
- Color adjustments
- Superimposition of text, graphics, or other elements
- Animation, cartooning, or other forms of reinterpretation
- Removal or modification of blemishes, inscriptions, or other original features
- Printing artwork on 3D materials, including fabrics
Unauthorized Uses
Unauthorized uses of Georgia O'Keeffe’s works include any applications that fall outside the scope of fair use, such as those intended for commercial profit generating purposes.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Publications and merchandise that are sold or generate income.
- Reproductions in marketing materials, advertisements, or promotional campaigns.
- Use in exhibitions or displays that charge admission fees.
For any such uses, prior written authorization must be obtained from the appropriate copyright holder noted in Access O'Keeffe.
For any commercial use, prior written permission is required from the copyright holder. Please contact the Digital Experience and Rights Manager at [email protected]
ADD TO LIST
COPY CITATION
Georgia O'Keeffe. Cross with Red Sky, 1929. Access O’Keeffe, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, https://access-ok.okeeffemuseum.org/object/9164.