ART HISTORY
Yet far from being resigned by her lot, O’Keeffe had
seemingly been preparing her whole life for this, having
been intent on living life to the fullest and generating the
sort of “spiritual electricity” that is required to make great
art. Writing to Pollitzer some four decades previously she
had said, “I believe one can have as many rare
experiences at the tail end of the earth as in civilisation
if one grabs at them”. Her paintings from this haunting
landscape are a testament to that.
For O’Keeffe, solitude was less of a world freed from
distractions and more a spiritual pursuit. The conceptual
artist Marina Abramovic picked up this baton, stating in
her piece “An Artist’s Life Manifesto” that artists “must
make time for the long periods of solitude” and “should
stay for long periods of time looking at the stars in the
night sky”, whilst the painter Agnes Martin went one
furtherandfollowedinO’Keeffe’sfootstepstoNew
Mexico.Martinhadstudiedpaintingatuniversitytherein
thelate1940s,whileexploringaninterestinBuddhism
andZenphilosophy.ShesettledfirstinTaosandlater
Galisteo,livinga spartanexistenceinthedesertand
producingminimalistcanvasesbuiltupthroughmultiple
gentlelayersofacrylic,watercolourandgraphite.
IsolationgaveMartin’sworka stillnessthatwas
reflectedinhermutedcolourpalettes.Thewriter
OliviaLainghassincedescribedMartin’sas“alifeof
renunciationandrestrictionthatoftensoundspunishingly
masochistic”,yettheartistherselfputa morepositivespin
onherself-imposedseclusion:“Thebestthingsinlife
happentoyouwhenyou’realone.”
OneonlyneedlookattheworkofVincentvanGoghto
knowthatpreviousmaximis true.“Oftenwholedayspass
withoutmyspeakingtoanyone,excepttoaskfordinner
orcoffee,”hewrotetohisbrotherTheofromArlesinthe
summerof1888,asheembarkedontwoyearsof
immenseproductivitythatwouldredefinethehistory
ofart.Withnooneforcompany,theDutchartistfound
deepermeaninginhissurroundings,famouslypainting
hischair,hisbedroomandhisvaseofsunflowersas
decorationfortheYellowHousepriortohishospitalisation
intheDecember.
WhenheadmittedhimselftotheSaint-Paul-de-Mausole
asyluminnearbySaint-Rémysixmonthslater,those
contemplativeworksmadewayforsomethingmore
ecstatic.VanGoghpaintedmorethan 20 versionsofthe
viewsfromthewindowsthere,lookingoutoverwheat
fieldsandcypresstrees.Hisstylised,swirlingbrushwork
hintsathisagitatedmindset,yettheprecisereed-pen
drawingshemadeinpreparationforworkssuchasStarry
NightandWheatFieldwithCypressessuggestthese
affectationsweredeliberate.It wasasif hiscondition
hadheightenedhisinterpretativepowers.
Declininghealthhassadlycontributedtomanygreat
artistsenduringperiodsofisolation,thoughtheirpersonal
struggleshavealsoresultedinincrediblypowerful
artworks.FollowingherdivorcefromDiegoRiverain 1939
anda seriesoftraumatisingmedicalproceduresthat
includedanappendectomy,toeamputationandtwo
abortions,FridaKahloretreatedtoLaCasaAzul,her
bluehouseinMexicoCity.Confinedhereasherhealth
worsened,sheneverthelessproducedsomeofthemost
visceralandaffectingpaintingsofhercareer,including
Self-PortraitwithThornNecklaceandHummingbirdand
TheWoundedDeer, thelattershowingherasananimalOne thing upon which
all artists across the
ages would agree is that
isolation is far from easy
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, MRS. SIMON GUGGENHEIM FUND. © HEIRS OF JOSEPHINE HOPPER/2019 PROLITTERIS, ZURICH © 2019 MOMA, NEW YORK/SCALA, FLORENCEArtists & Illustrators 31