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Current Exhibitions

Hans Hofmann: The Father of Abstract Expressionism
February 3 - July 31, 2025
Palm Desert, CA
Sound and Spectacle: Harry Bertoia and George Rickey
June 26, 2024 - September 30, 2025
Palm Desert, CA

2024

Discovering Creativity: American Art Masters
January 10 - March 17, 2024
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens - West Palm Beach, FL
Paintings of Dorothy Hood
March 18 - July 19, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Legacy of the Land: Georgia O’Keeffe and Emily Kame Kngwarreye
July 10, 2024 - January 31, 2025
Jackson Hole, WY
Art Under $100,000
July 25, 2024 - January 31, 2025
Palm Desert, CA
Hans Hofmann
August 14, 2024 - February 28, 2025
Palm Desert, CA
A Selection of Sculptures
October 23, 2024 - February 28, 2025
Virtual
Holiday 2024: The Art of Gifting
November 4, 2024 - January 31, 2025
Virtual

2023

Figurative Masters of the Americas
January 4 - February 12, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
First Circle: Circles in Art
February 14, 2023 - August 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Florals for Spring, Groundbreaking
May 8, 2023 - August 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Modern Art, Modern Friendship
July 13, 2023 - January 31, 2025
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol: All is Pretty
August 17, 2023 - August 31, 2024
Jackson Hole, WY
Alexander Calder: Shaping a Primary Universe
August 23, 2023 - March 25, 2025
Palm Desert, CA
Art of the American West: A Prominent Collection
August 24, 2023 - August 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Picasso: Beyond the Canvas
October 4, 2023 - April 30, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
No Other Land: A Century of American Landscapes
September 21, 2023 - December 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Ansel Adams: Affirmation of Life
December 1, 2023 - March 25, 2025
Palm Desert, CA

2022

Abstract Expressionism: Transcending the Radical
January 12, 2022 - January 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley: Modern Minds
February 1, 2022 - February 28, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
My Own Skin: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
June 16 - December 31, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
Your Heart’s Blood: Intersections of Art and Literature
September 12, 2022 - December 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
N.C. Wyeth: A Decade of Painting
September 29, 2022 - March 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Meeting Life: N.C. Wyeth and the MetLife Murals
July 18, 2022 - April 30, 2025
Palm Desert, CA
Alexander Calder: Painting the Cosmos
March 2 - August 12, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
Josef Albers: The Heart of Painting
May 12 - November 30, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
Paper Cut: Unique Works on Paper
April 27, 2022 - October 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
More to Life: Impressionist Dialogues from Monet and Beyond
August 17, 2022 - August 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Alexander Calder: A Universe of Painting
August 10, 2022 - August 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Claude Monet: An Impressionist Genius
August 18 - October 31, 2022
Jackson Hole, WY
Marc Chagall: The Color of Love
September 8 - October 12, 2022
Jackson Hole, WY
Picasso - Prints and Works on Paper
September 1 - October 12, 2022
Jackson Hole, WY
Impressionism at Heather James Fine Art
September 1 - October 31, 2022
Jackson Hole, WY

2021

It Was Acceptable in the 80s
April 27, 2021 - August 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Elaine and Willem de Kooning: Painting in the Light
August 3, 2021 - January 31, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
James Rosenquist: Potent Pop
June 7, 2021 - January 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Wicked Wonders
December 13, 2021 - March 31, 2025
Virtual
American Eye: Selections from the Pardee Collection
February 28 - December 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Moore! Moore! Moore! Henry Moore and Sculpture
March 3, 2021 - April 30, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
Mercedes Matter: A Miraculous Quality
March 22, 2021 - June 30, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
A Beautiful Time: American Art in the Gilded Age
June 24, 2021 - August 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Abstract Expressionism: The Persistent Women
November 1, 2021 - August 31, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol: Glamour at the Edge
October 27, 2021 - September 30, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
All We Have Seen: Impressionist Landscapes from Monet to Kleitsch
August 9, 2021 - September 30, 2022
Jackson Hole, WY

2020

Jewels of Impressionism and Modern Art
February 19 - October 31, 2020
Palm Desert, CA
The Gloria Luria Collection
March 16, 2020 - October 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Norman Zammitt: The Progression of Color
March 19, 2020 - February 28, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Pop Figures: Mel Ramos and Tom Wesselmann
March 26, 2020 - April 30, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Cool Britannia: The Young British Artists
April 2 - September 30, 2020
Palm Desert, CA
Jewish Modernism Part 2: Figuration from Chagall to Norman
April 30, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Bring It to the Runway
December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol Polaroids: All That Glitters
December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Me, Myself, & I
December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Ars Longa
December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Palm Desert, CA
Jewish Modernism Part 1: Abstraction from Gottlieb to Schnabel
April 23, 2020 - April 30, 2024
New York, NY
Alexander Calder: Bold Gouaches
March 25, 2020 - March 2, 2022
New York, NY

2019

Paul Jenkins: Coloring the Phenomenal
December 27, 2019 - March 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
The Californians
November 1, 2019 - February 14, 2020
Palm Desert, CA
Irving Norman: Dark Matter
November 27, 2019 - June 30, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
We Were Always Here: Japanese-American Post-War Pioneers of Art
April 4 - July 15, 2019
San Francisco, CA

2018

N.C. Wyeth: Paintings and Illustrations
February 1 - May 31, 2018
Palm Desert, CA
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
March 21 - May 30, 2018
Palm Desert, CA
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
June 1 - July 27, 2018
San Francisco, CA
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
August 1 - September 16, 2018
Jackson Hole, WY
de Kooning x de Kooning
November 8, 2018 - February 28, 2019
New York, NY
Sam Francis: From Dusk to Dawn
November 15, 2018 - April 29, 2019
Palm Desert, CA
Wojciech Fangor: The Early 1960s
April 19 - June 30, 2018
New York, NY

2016

Ferrari and Futurists: An Italian Look at Speed
November 21, 2016 - January 30, 2017
Palm Desert, CA
Norman Rockwell: The Artist at Work
June 30 - September 30, 2016
Jackson Hole, WY

2015

Alexander Calder
November 21, 2015 - May 28, 2016
Palm Desert, CA

2014

Masters of California Impressionism
November 22, 2014 - May 23, 2015
Palm Desert, CA

2011

Painterly Abstraction: Spheres of AbEx
November 25, 2011 - May 31, 2012
Palm Desert, CA

2010

Masters of Impressionism and Modern Art
November 20, 2010 - September 25, 2011
Palm Desert, CA

2009

Picasso
November 20, 2009 - May 25, 2010
Palm Desert, CA
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” -Georgia O’Keeffe

History

Cottonwood Tree (Near Abiquiu), New Mexico (1943) by celebrated American artist Georgia O’Keeffe is exemplary of the airier, more naturalistic style that the desert inspired in her. O’Keeffe had great affinity for the distinctive beauty of the Southwest, and made her home there among the spindly trees, dramatic vistas, and bleached animal skulls that she so frequently painted. O’Keeffe took up residence at Ghost Ranch, a dude ranch twelve miles outside of the village of Abiquiú in northern New Mexico and painted this cottonwood tree around there. The softer style befitting this subject is a departure from her bold architectural landscapes and jewel-toned flowers.

The cottonwood tree is abstracted into soft patches of verdant greens through which more delineated branches are seen, spiraling in space against pockets of blue sky. The modeling of the trunk and delicate energy in the leaves carry forward past experimentations with the regional trees of the Northeast that had captivated O’Keeffe years earlier: maples, chestnuts, cedars, and poplars, among others. Two dramatic canvases from 1924, Autumn Trees, The Maple and The Chestnut Grey, are early instances of lyrical and resolute centrality, respectively. As seen in these early tree paintings, O’Keeffe exaggerated the sensibility of her subject with color and form.

More
  • Georgia O’Keeffe painting a similar subject at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

    Georgia O’Keeffe painting a similar subject at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

    Photograph by Ansel Adams
  • Georgia O’Keeffe, 1953, at her desk in her Abiquiu studio with one of her smaller cottonwood paintings

    Georgia O’Keeffe, 1953, at her desk in her Abiquiu studio with one of her smaller cottonwood paintings

    Photograph by Laura Gilpin
  • "Dead Cottonwood Tree" (1943)

    "Dead Cottonwood Tree" (1943)

    Santa Barbara Museum of Art
  • "Autumn Trees, The Maple" (1924)

    "Autumn Trees, The Maple" (1924)

  • "The Chestnut Grey" (1924)

    "The Chestnut Grey" (1924)

“A hill or tree cannot make a good painting just because it is a hill or a tree. It is lines and colors put together so that they say something. For me that is the very basis of painting. The abstraction is often the most definite form for the intangible thing in myself that I can only clarify in paint.” -Georgia O’Keeffe

MARKET INSIGHTS

  • According to the graph prepared by Art Market Research, Georgia O’Keeffe’s market prices have increased at an 12.7% compound annual rate of return since 1976.

  • Georgia O’Keeffe’s auction record was set in 2014 with the sale of Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 for over $44.4 million USD. This remains the highest sum paid for a female artist at auction.

  • Even when O’Keeffe’s market took a slight downturn during the pandemic in 2020 (as seen in the AMR graph), ArtPrice’s global index of auction turnover shows that O’Keeffe increased from 263rd to the 63rd highest sold artist that year, illustrating that O’Keeffe’s paintings remain in increasing demand, especially when compared to other artists’ performance during this same time.

  • On average over the last 40 years, approximately only 4 paintings by O’Keeffe come up for sale at auction each year.

Top Results at Auction

“Jimson weed/ White flower no. 1” (1932) sold for $44,405,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 48 x 40 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 20 November 2014.

“White Rose with Larkspur No. I” (1927) sold for $26,725,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 9 November 2022.

“Black Iris VI” (1936) sold for $21,110,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 48 x 30 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 11 May 2023.

“Autumn Leaf II” (1927) sold for $15,275,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 32 x 21 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 9 November 2022.

Comparable Paintings Sold at Auction

Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in. Sold at Christie's New York: 9 November 2022.

“Red Hills with Pedernal, White Clouds” (1936) sold for $12,298,000.

Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 9 November 2022.
  • A wider view of the desert landscape, this painting was sold in the auction of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s collection 
  • Nature was often the subject of O’Keeffe’s art, and some cottonwood trees can be seen in the distance of this landscape
Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 21 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 14 May 2018.

“Lake George With White Birch” (1921) sold for $11,292,000.

Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 21 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 14 May 2018.
  • This early canvas with similar subject matter, though smaller-scale, sold for over $11.2 million in 2018, the third-highest auction price for O’Keeffe
  • Nature subjects, particularly trees, were a frequent focus of O’Keeffe
Oil on canvas, 16 x 36 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 09 May 2018.

“Near Abiquiu, New Mexico” (1931) sold for $8,412,500.

Oil on canvas, 16 x 36 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 09 May 2018.
  • A smaller work than Cottonwood Tree (Near Abiquiu), New Mexico
  • An earlier landscape from the same area in New Mexico, this piece sold for over $8.4 million in 2018
Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 20 November 2018.

“The Red Maple at Lake George” (1926) sold for $8,187,500.

Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: 20 November 2018.
  • This O’Keeffe nature subject of the same size sold in 2018 for over $8.18 million
  • Earlier example from 1926
Oil on canvas, 10.1 x 24 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 5 March 2020.

“Nature Forms – Gaspé” (1931) sold for $6,870,200.

Oil on canvas, 10.1 x 24 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 5 March 2020.
  • Small-scale, abstract nature subject
  • Sold recently for over $6.87 million

SCARCITY

O'keeffe museums
O'keeffe museum vert
  • 43% of O’Keeffe’s paintings are already held in museum collections.
  • Of the 616 oil on canvas works O’Keeffe painted, less than 300 remain available for private collections.
  • As time goes on, many of the O’Keeffe paintings currently in private collections will be bequeathed to museums, leaving very few to ever become available.
  • O’Keeffe first painted the cottonwood trees in Abiquiu for two only years, from 1943 to 1945, and only created nine paintings for this core series. Of these, 6 are held in permanent museum collections, with only 3 remaining in private hands.
  • O’Keeffe’s Cottonwood Trees – from the original 1943-1945 core series and from later years – can be found in leading museum collections including the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the Butler Institute of American Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Paintings of Cottonwoods, Trees, and Abiquiu in Museum Collections

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

“Cottonwood Tree in Spring” (1943) oil on canvas, 30 1/16 x 36 1/8 in.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art

“Dead Cottonwood Tree” (1943), oil on canvas, 36 x 30 in.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

“Untitled (Cottonwood Tree)” (1945) oil on board, 24 1/4 x 20 in.

The Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio

“Cottonwood III” (1944), oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

“Cottonwood and Pedernal” (1948) oil on canvas, 10 x 12 in.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

“Dead Tree with Pink Hill” (1945), oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.

Dallas Museum of Art

“Bare Tree Trunks with Snow” (1946), oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 39 1/2 in.

New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe

“Spring Tree No. 1” (1945), oil on canvas

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

“Abiquiu Trees VII” (1953), oil on canvas, 10 1/8 x 12 1/8 in.

Brooklyn Museum, New York

“Dark Tree Trunks” (1946), oil on canvas, 40 x 30 in.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

“Near Abiquiu, New Mexico” (1930), oil on canvas, 10 in. × 24 1/8 in.

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

“The Mountain, New Mexico” (1931), oil on canvas, 30 1/16 × 36 1/8 in.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

“Untitled (New Mexico Landscape)” (c. 1943) oil on canvas, 13 x 33 1/8 in.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

“Cliffs Beyond Abiquiu, Dry Waterfall” (1943), oil on canvas, 30 x 16 in.

Art Institute of Chicago

“Abiquiu Sand Hills and Mesa” (1945), oil on canvas, 16 x 36 in.
“Filling a space in a beautiful way – that is what art means to me.” -Georgia O’Keeffe

Image Gallery

Additional Resources

Take a video tour of O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu, New Mexico, presented by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe
Watch “Houses of My Own” by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to learn more about the inspirational Abiquiu landscape and its cottonwood trees
Explore more of O’Keeffe’s cottonwood series in the collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
HJFA Senior Curator, Chip Tom, discusses O’Keeffe’s cottonwood series

Authentication

Cottonwood Tree (Near Abiquiu), New Mexico, 1943 is listed as number 1066 in Barbara Buhler Lynes’s catalogue raisonné of Georgia O’Keeffe’s artwork. The painting is illustrated on page 670 of volume two.

See Catalogue Raisonné

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