Purple Petunia 

Georgia O'Keeffe made Purple Petunia using oil paint, a material with a long history in Western art. But O'Keeffe's approach transforms this traditional medium. Notice how the velvety smoothness of the oil paint creates a sense of depth and volume. The blending of colors, from the intense purples and blues to the delicate pinks, required skilled handling of the brush and the slow building up of layers, a testament to O'Keeffe’s labor. This is not the quick sketch of an impressionist. O'Keeffe challenges traditional expectations through her subject matter and scale. By magnifying the flower to an almost abstract level, she asks us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. Instead of a passive observation of nature, O'Keeffe invites us to actively engage with the material reality of the flower and the labor behind its artistic representation. She reminds us that art is not just about what we see, but how we see it.