Georgia O'KeeffeAmerican, 1887–1986Red and Pink Rocks and Teeth
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Red and Pink Rocks and Teeth” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked October 12, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Georgia O’Keeffe was fascinated by the animal bones, weathered and worn, that she found in the desert in New Mexico. In Red and Pink Rocks and Teeth she presented a jawbone alongside two stacked rocks that appear both monumental and indeterminate. The smooth, rounded forms of the red and pink rocks appear in enigmatic relation to one another, as the red pebble appears to recede from the picture plane even though it must be perched on top of the pink stone. Their abstracted forms and warm colors contrast sharply with the bleached, angular teeth and hard, cracked appearance of the jawbone and together construct a modern trompe l’oeil that questions the nature of representation and perception.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1955.1223
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Georgia O'Keeffe
The whole life1929–1983 · Workplace
New Mexico
1937
Stieglitz gives up photography
When Stieglitz retired from photography in 1937 he had made more than 350 portraits of O’Keeffe and more than 200 nude photographs of her.
1938
Advertising commission from the Hawaiian Pineapple Company
The agency N. W. Ayer & Son asked her for two paintings for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole) to use in advertising. The offer came when she was 51 and her career seemed to be stalling: critics found her New Mexico focus limited and called her desert images a kind of mass production.
8 February 1939
Nine weeks in Hawaii
On 8 February 1939 she arrived in Honolulu aboard the SS Lurline and spent nine weeks on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the island of Hawaii. Maui was by far the most productive stop: there she was given complete freedom to explore and paint — flowers, landscapes and traditional Hawaiian fishhooks.
