Bleeding Heart 1932

Georgia O'Keeffe painted this ‘Bleeding Heart’ with oil on canvas, and the process of building up these soft, fleshy pinks and reds feels like an exercise in tender looking. The way the colors subtly shift within each petal, from a deep crimson edge to a gentle, almost blushing center, creates this sense of pulsing life. You can almost feel the blood rushing, if you see what I mean. O'Keeffe’s interest in the details is a real exploration of the emotional potential of color. Look at the central stem, a pale, translucent white that seems to catch the light. There's a quietness, a vulnerability there, that really speaks to the rawness of emotion. O'Keeffe's flowers are like conversations, maybe we should listen in? It reminds me of Hilma af Klint, an earlier artist who also delved into organic forms, though with a more mystical bent. Both of them remind us that art is about more than what we see.