Birch Trees at Dawn on Lake George
- Date
- 1925
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 36 × 30 in. (91.4 × 76.2 cm)
framed: 37 3/8 in. × 31 3/8 in. × 2 in. (94.9 × 79.7 × 5.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Mrs. Ernest W. Stix
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 14:1964
NOTES
In this painting, curving, tubular shapes and light colors evoke not only breeze-struck birch trees in early morning light but the sensuous lines of the human torso as well. Georgia O’Keeffe developed a personal language of semi-abstract forms to suggest the moods of nature. Her in-laws kept a summer home at Lake George in upstate New York, which was the site for the imagery seen in this work.
Provenance
1926 - 1964
Mrs. Ernest W. Stix (Erma K. Stix), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the artist through Alfred Stieglitz [1]
1964 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Erma K. Stix [2]
Notes:
[1] A letter from Alfred Stieglitz to Mrs. Stix dated February 25, 1926 acknowledges Mrs. Stix's purchase of this painting. Another letter dated March 6, 1926 from Stieglitz mentions that the picture will be ready for shipment to St. Louis in a week. An announcement for the Intimate Gallery in New York is attached to the letter, and gives the dates for a show of Georgia O'Keeffe's work as February 11 - March 11, 1926 [correspondence, SLAM document files]. It is likely that Mrs. Stix purchased the painting at Alfred Stieglitz' Intimate Gallery while it was on exhibition in early 1926.
[2] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 22, 1964.
Mrs. Ernest W. Stix (Erma K. Stix), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the artist through Alfred Stieglitz [1]
1964 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Erma K. Stix [2]
Notes:
[1] A letter from Alfred Stieglitz to Mrs. Stix dated February 25, 1926 acknowledges Mrs. Stix's purchase of this painting. Another letter dated March 6, 1926 from Stieglitz mentions that the picture will be ready for shipment to St. Louis in a week. An announcement for the Intimate Gallery in New York is attached to the letter, and gives the dates for a show of Georgia O'Keeffe's work as February 11 - March 11, 1926 [correspondence, SLAM document files]. It is likely that Mrs. Stix purchased the painting at Alfred Stieglitz' Intimate Gallery while it was on exhibition in early 1926.
[2] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 22, 1964.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.