PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Georgia O'Keeffe

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Georgia O'Keeffe
By Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: Sunday, September 12, 2004

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century, Georgia O'Keeffe.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

America has produced many great painters in the past one-hundred years. Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most popular and easily recognized artists. People do not mistake her work for anyone else's. People can immediately identify her paintings of huge, colorful flowers or bones in dream-like deserts.

Georgia O'Keeffe said she did not know how she got the idea to be an artist. But, she said, the idea came early. She remembered announcing when she was twelve years old that she planned to be an artist.

VOICE TWO:

Georgia was born in eighteen eighty seven, the second of seven children. Her parents were successful farmers in the middle western state of Wisconsin.

Georgia's mother also had cultural interests. She made sure that Georgia and her sisters studied art, in addition to their usual school subjects. By the time Georgia was sixteen, the O'Keeffe family had moved to Williamsburg, Virginia.

 
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After Georgia finished school, she attended the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Georgia was especially pleased with the help she got from her teacher, John Vanderpoel. She later wrote that John Vanderpoel was one of the few real teachers she knew.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-oh-seven, O'Keeffe began a year at the Art Students League in New York City. The famous painter William Merritt Chase³ was one of her teachers. Chase had a great influence on O'Keeffe's early artistic⁴ development. She described him as fresh, full of energy and fierce. She seemed to understand and agree with his style of painting.

Then, in nineteen-oh-eight, Georgia O'Keeffe left the world of fine art. She moved back to Chicago and worked in the advertising⁵ business. She drew pictures of products to be sold. Her parents had been struggling financially for some time in Virginia. Later, her mother became sick with tuberculosis⁶. Some art historians⁷ suspect these were the main reasons Georgia O'Keeffe spent four years in business instead of continuing her studies.

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VOICE TWO:

In nineteen twelve, O'Keeffe returned to art school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Artist and teacher Arthur Wesley Dow taught that art should fill space in a beautiful way. This theory influenced and changed her work. O'Keefe also learned⁸ about the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. He wanted artists to represent the inner⁹ spirit in outer things. O'Keeffe considered Kandinsky's writings a treasure. She read them throughout her life.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen fifteen, Georgia O'Keeffe decided¹⁰ that much of what she had been taught in art school was of little value. She decided to hang recent work she had done on the wall of her home. She examined it and did not find herself in the art. She wrote that she had been taught to work like others. She decided then that she would not spend her life doing what had already been done.

Georgia O'Keeffe began to search for her own style. She used only charcoal¹¹, the black material made from burned wood. In her book about her life, she wrote that she decided to limit herself to charcoal until she found she really needed color to do what she needed to do. She wrote that six months later she found she needed the color blue. She used it for a watercolor painting she called "Blue Lines."

VOICE TWO:

Georgia O'Keeffe had met the famous art critic and photographer Alfred Stieglitz (STEEG-lits) at his New York City gallery in nineteen-oh-eight. Their friendship grew as they wrote letters to each other. In nineteen fifteen, O'Keeffe told a friend that she wanted her art to please Alfred Stieglitz more than anyone else.

 
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That friend showed O'Keeffe's charcoal drawings to Stieglitz. Stieglitz liked her drawings enough to show them in his art gallery, called Two Ninety One.

VOICE ONE:

Alfred Stieglitz was a major force behind shows of Georgia O'Keeffe's work for the next twenty-five years. Her first individual show at his gallery was well received. She sold her first piece at that show in nineteen seventeen.

Stieglitz became O'Keeffe's strongest supporter. Seven years later he became her husband. He was twenty-four years older than his new wife.

The relationship between Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz was not an easy one. O'Keeffe once said that to her "he was much more wonderful in his work than as a human being." But, she also said she loved him for what seemed "clear and bright and wonderful." The two remained married until his death in nineteen forty six.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Georgia O'Keeffe also had a long love relationship with the southwestern part of the United States. The desert environment was the subject of many of her paintings. O'Keeffe had moved to the state of Texas when she was twenty-five. She accepted a two-year position as supervisor¹² of art in the public schools of Amarillo, Texas.

Later, she taught in a small town. She wrote about long walks on narrow paths in a canyon¹³ near that town. The dangerous climbs in and out of the canyon were like nothing she had known before. She wrote that many paintings came from experiences like that.

In one such painting, the canyon is shown as a huge deep hole of many colors -- reds, oranges and yellows. It looks as if it is on fire. The canyon fills most of the picture. A small area of blue sky in the distance lends additional¹⁴ depth to the picture.

VOICE ONE:

 
Georgia O'Keeffe, 
In nineteen thirty, Georgia O'Keeffe began spending most of her summers in the state of New Mexico. She called it "the faraway." She painted big pictures of desert flowers and the high rocky hills. She also began to paint pictures of the bones she found during walks near her summer home. Most of her paintings share the qualities of largeness of subject and richness of color.

The artist discussed those two qualities in her book, called "Georgia O'Keefe." She wrote that color is more exact in meaning than words. Later, she wrote that she found she could say things with color and shape that she could not express in words.

She also spoke¹⁵ of a special need to paint her subjects larger than they are in life. She seemed to want to force people to see more deeply into objects such as flowers. She tried to show the different shapes and colors within a single flower. The artist said she would make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what she saw in flowers.

VOICE TWO:

O'Keeffe was angered by some criticism¹⁶ of her work over the years. She rejected critics' claims that there was deep sexual¹⁷ meaning in her paintings of flowers. She said that people linked their own experience of a flower to her paintings. She suggested that critics wrote about her flower paintings as if they knew what she was seeing and thinking. But, she said, they did not know.

Georgia O'Keeffe always argued that what others think of the artist's work is not important. She once wrote to a friend, "... I'll do as I please."

VOICE ONE:

Georgia O'Keeffe bought her first house in New Mexico in nineteen forty. After Alfred Stieglitz died, she moved to "the faraway'" permanently¹⁸. She lived in New Mexico for the rest of her life.

In the early nineteen seventies, O'Keeffe began losing her sight because of an eye disease¹⁹. She stopped working with oil paints, but continued to produce watercolor paintings.

Around the same time, she met a young artist who would become very important to her. Juan Hamilton made pottery²⁰, objects of clay. He became O'Keeffe's assistant and friend. They also travelled together. But in the early nineteen-eighties Georgia O'Keeffe's health failed severely²¹. She died in nineteen-eighty-six. She was ninety-eight.

VOICE TWO:

Georgia O'Keefe received many honors²² during her long life. President Gerald Ford²³ presented her with the Medal of Freedom in nineteen-seventy-seven. Eight years later, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the National Medal of Arts. Students and experts continue to study and write about her work.

Her paintings are shown around the world. And, more than one-million people have visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in New Mexico since it opened in nineteen-ninety-seven.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Caty Weaver. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for People In America in VOA Special English.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 chase   

vt.追逐，追赶，追求；n.追赶

参考例句：

• The police grabbed the robbers after a long chase.警察经过长距离追赶后逮住了抢劫犯。
• Would you chase me if I did?如果我逃开了，你会来追吗？

4 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

7 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

8 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

9 inner   

adj.内部的，里面的；内在的，内心的；精神的

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• Other people seek the mountains for renewal of their inner lives.另一些人到深山中去，寻求新的精神生活。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

12 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

13 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

14 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

17 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

18 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

19 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

20 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

21 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

22 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。