I will begin with Georgia O’Keeffe’s Lake George Reflection. Georgia O’Keeffe is well known as one of the most influential artists of the past century, with her most prominent works depicting close-up abstractions of natural forms in widely colorful and pastel palettes. Despite many of the irregular shapes and forms prominent throughout her art, it is typical in her creations for the piece to be turned to varying degrees to change what the art depicts. Although Lake George Reflection is typically displayed horizontally to depict a colorful and vivid landscape, if it is turned laterally it appears almost to represent the stamen of a flower… a callback to Georgia O’Keeffe’s roots and her many series of flower paintings. One aspect of this painting that makes it indicative to this collection is a lack of focus on detail, and more of a focus on form and abstraction to the objects to create a focus on emotion. This can be seen in the way that O’Keeffe has chosen to focus on the reflection of the landscape, and makes you wonder which side is truly the reflection.

The second painting I will be examining is Oscar Bluemner’s Form and Light. Oscar Bluemner’s work is consistent with Georgia O’Keeffe’s style, and is widely known for his use of geometric shapes to create natural forms. This particular painting, Form and Light, is more of a play with organic shapes and geometric ones in a bright and colorful palette that seem wildly vivid to this setting. Bluemner often relayed information in his paintings through a usage of color that reflected emotion more than it did reality. His understanding of the emotional impact that color had on his viewers allowed him to create for the purpose of evoking emotions from the viewer. In Form and Light particularly, his use of geometric shapes allows him to acknowledge the very principle shapes and forms of his subject/landscape setting.

The final work in the collection is Camilla Engström’s Internal Sunrise. Being a modern artist herself (as Internal Sunrise was painted in 2020), Camilla Engström has the gift of foresight when it comes to the artistic movements and principles. However, this does not bar her from her place in the collection. Choosing multiple paintings that call to mind the same sense of emotion though separated by time is perhaps one of the greatest features the inclusion of this piece brings. Not only this, but Engström herself has a great affinity for bringing to light the natural forms of Georgia O’Keeffe and as well the use of color as seen used by Oscar Bluemner. Her use of forms do not include the detail of hyperrealism, and she rather relies on the form of the scenery and the accentuation of color to masterfully create the presence of visible emotion. Though there are symbolic aspects of this painting as well (present in other Engström paintings) which is the sun doubling as the representation of a breast of the human anatomy. A callback as well to one of her biggest inspirations in natural forms, Georgia O’Keeffe.

All three of these works showcase their ability to link the natural form to their basic shapes through the use of abstraction, color vibrance, and emotional connection to the natural world.