Cottonwood Tree in Spring 1943

Georgia O'Keeffe created this vibrant painting of a cottonwood tree sometime in the first half of the 20th century. O'Keeffe is best known for her large-scale depictions of flowers, but here she turns her gaze towards the natural landscape of the American Southwest, where she spent much of her life. The cottonwood tree, with its distinctive fluttering leaves and soft, downy seeds, becomes a symbol of the unique beauty and resilience of the desert environment. This painting embodies the values of the Arts and Crafts movement that flourished in the US at the time, in its reverence for natural forms and its rejection of industrialization. O'Keeffe's close attention to the details of the tree's form and color invites us to contemplate our own relationship to the natural world. To understand O'Keeffe's art more fully, we might turn to her personal correspondence and explore the history of environmentalism in America. Art is often a reflection of the values and beliefs of the society in which it is created, and by studying its historical context, we can gain a deeper appreciation of its meaning and significance.