Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer Audio Exhibition
Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986), Chrysler Building from the Window of the Waldorf Astoria, New York , 1960 , gelatin silver print, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, 2006.6.1370
14 ¾ x 11 ¾ x 1 3/8 inches (37.5 x 29.8 x 3.5 cm)
Verbal Description
Hello, my name is Emily Bauman, the museum’s curatorial assistant for photography. I will be reading the verbal description of Chrysler Building from the Window of the Waldorf Astoria, New York, in Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer.
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist who lived from 1887 to 1986. The photograph, Chrysler Building from the Window of the Waldorf Astoria, New York, is from 1960. It is a gelatin silver print. It is in the collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. The acquisition number is 2006.6.1370
This black-and-white, portrait-oriented photograph measures 14 and three-quarter inches by 11 and three-quarter inches. The title tells us that the photo was taken from an upper window of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Along the top of the picture, the artist has included part of the window frame and the drape of a transparent curtain in the upper left corner. Out the window, the façade of the Chrysler building appears just to the right of the center of the image in the middle distance. It towers over the buildings to the left of the center. A bank of fog or smoke blocks the view of all structures in the background.
Label Text
Hello, my name is Emily Bauman, the museum’s curatorial assistant for photography. I will be reading the label for Chrysler Building from the Window of the Waldorf Astoria, New York, in Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer.
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist who lived from 1887 to 1986. The photograph, Chrysler Building from the Window of the Waldorf Astoria, New York, is from 1960. It is a gelatin silver print. It is in the collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. The acquisition number is 2006.6.1370
Like her paintings of New York, many of O’Keeffe’s photographs of the city explore aspects of its monumentality and modernity. "One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt," she noted. In some images, O’Keeffe used a dramatic, low camera angle to picture buildings soaring overhead, as if they were endless lines stretching into the sky. Her view of the Chrysler Building seems to grapple with a related experience. Here, a sense of quiet intimacy coexists with the vast scale and loftiness of the modern urban environment.