Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Juan Hamilton: Passage

Georgia O’Keeffe’s relationship with sculptor Juan Hamilton began in 1973, when O’Keeffe was 85 years old and Hamilton was 27. Hamilton recalls his first meeting with O’Keeffe: “Right behind her, there was this large, broken Indian pot with a skull inside, a human skull,” said Hamilton. “I remember thinking, Gosh, that’s just how I feel—like a bare skull and a broken pot.”

Pieces from the collection of Juan Hamilton are available in the upcoming Passage auction, presented by Sotheby’s. Included are works from O’Keeffe, her ex-husband and 20th-century photographer Alfred Stieglitz, and Hamilton himself. Nature Forms- Gaspé by Georgia O’Keeffe is among the event’s highlighted pieces. The painting was inspired by two trips to the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec she took in 1932, partly to have time away from Stieglitz. She recounts, in a letter to home, the mingling of colors and elements at the Gaspé Peninsula that would eventually become a focal point of Nature Forms- Gaspé. “There is a waterfall rushing down to the sandy beach at one end,” she wrote, “and at the other end another fall that comes down in fine spray over rich green moss.”

Representing Stieglitz’s photography is a picture of Georgia O’Keeffe with her hand on the wheel of a car. Despite not having a driver’s license, O’Keeffe would drive in the summers through rural New Mexico in her black Ford sedan. The picture focuses on the juxtaposition between O’Keeffe’s hand and the tire, examing the divide between what is human and artificial. One of Hamilton’s works available in this auction is a lacquered stoneware piece titled War. Hamilton transitioned from working with clay and bronze to this stone project during his time with O’Keeffe. He partially credits his technique to his former profession, restoring adobe houses in New Mexico. View each of the available lots and register to bid on the Sotheby’s website.