[title]
If you’re familiar with Georgia O’Keeffe, it’s probably for her iconic paintings of magnified flowers spanning vast, colourful canvases. A trailblazing artist and pioneer of twentieth-century painting, one of O’Keeffe’s works – Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 1932 – remains one of the most expensive paintings by a female artist ever sold at auction, having fetched US$44.4 million in 2014.
Over her seven-decade career, O’Keeffe also turned her paintbrush to other subjects, most notably animal skulls and New Mexico’s desert landscapes, and the latter will be the focus of a new show coming to London next year. In October 2027, Somerset House’s Courtauld Gallery will host almost two dozen O’Keeffe works, most of which have never been displayed before in the UK.
Named Georgia O’Keeffe: Ghost Ranch, the show will be a deep dive into the artist’s New Mexico home and its role in shaping her life and work.
‘As soon as I saw it, that was my country,’ the artist once said of the ranch, according to the Guardian. ‘I’d never seen anything like it before, but it fitted to me exactly.’
O’Keeffe first moved to Ghost Ranch in 1934 and initially rented a room in the property, which formed part of a 21,000-acre estate. She later bought the place and made it her permanent home. Shrouded in mystery, the ranch is rumoured to have been the site of a murder prior to O’Keeffe purchasing it. It was also the site of some of her most iconic photoshoots, including one with Cecil Beaton for Vogue.
The artist’s last major London show, an exhibition of more than 100 of her most iconic works, took place at Tate Modern a decade ago. The Courtauld Gallery’s display will be the first time 18 of the Ghost Ranch paintings are displayed in the UK.
🎨 The 10 best art exhibitions in London right now.
Did you see that Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall is being turned into a big maze this summer?
Plus: the V&A has announced an exhibition all about Burberry’s legendary trench coat.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.