Purple Leaves 1922

Georgia O'Keeffe made Purple Leaves, probably in the 1920s, using oil paint. The forms sort of swim into view as we look, with the palette kept within the family of violets. It’s all about the process, of gently teasing out the volumes. I love how O'Keeffe uses color and form to turn up the volume on the natural world. Up close, you can see how she coaxes the paint to blend, so you get these soft, almost imperceptible gradations of color. Look how the light catches the edges of the leaves. It’s a real masterclass in the physicality of paint. Think of Arthur Dove, O’Keeffe’s contemporary. He also zoomed in on natural forms, blowing them up, to the point they became abstract, mysterious. It’s like they’re both saying: 'Hey, the world is full of stuff we don't see, unless we really look.' And that’s what art can do, it can help us look.