Hibiscus with Plumeria 1939

Curator: This is Georgia O'Keeffe's "Hibiscus with Plumeria," painted in 1939. O'Keeffe is well-known for her large-scale depictions of flowers, often imbued with a modernist sensibility. Editor: It's striking! The colours are so vibrant, and the sheer size of the flowers almost overwhelms the frame. I can’t help but think of tropical tourism posters—beautiful, yet strangely manufactured. Curator: Exactly! This work emerged from O'Keeffe's time in Hawaii, commissioned by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company—now Dole. She was meant to capture images that would promote tourism and pineapple products. The irony being O'Keeffe a known feminist intellectual finding herself co-opted for advertising purposes. Editor: So, these stunning blossoms were strategically employed for economic gain. This adds a layer of complexity. We are looking at a natural subject, mediated through commercial intent and O'Keeffe's artistic interpretation. Do you think she maintained artistic control, or was she limited by the commission? Curator: It’s complicated. The commission provided her the freedom and resources to work, but it inevitably influenced her subject matter. There’s this tension present throughout the Hawaiian series: the celebration of nature intertwined with a kind of tropical ideal. Editor: And how can we avoid romanticizing O'Keeffe’s involvement and consider Hawaii itself. It’s easy to focus solely on the flowers and beauty, while the actual colonial context – US imperialism exploiting Hawaii – is conveniently obscured in these tourist landscapes and exoticized images. Curator: Absolutely. Art production exists in that matrix of power and cultural dynamics, O’Keeffe was also implicated in those dynamics whether implicitly or otherwise. We can appreciate her artistry and also critically examine its connections to larger social and economic structures. Editor: Understanding the historical backdrop changes my perspective, I move beyond the picture postcard and towards engaging a coloniality implicated even in this stunning work. It’s a potent reminder to see art as entangled with social relations, not isolated from them. Curator: Indeed, viewing O'Keeffe's "Hibiscus with Plumeria" through a critical lens allows for a much richer, layered interpretation. Editor: Thank you, these additional details offer a greater degree of comprehension to the colonial past behind those hibiscus flowers.