Georgia O’keeffe : The most expensive artwork by a female ever sold

𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐚 𝐎’𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞 : The most expensive artwork by a female artist ever sold (2014)

The late Georgia O’Keeffe was a seasoned pioneer in the art realm of Modernism, historic for her paintings of enlarged flowers and introducing new techniques & ideas to the budding movement. Georgia was the first real respected female painter in bustling 1920’s NYC, paving the way for copious female artists to come and has been crowned the “Queen of American Modernism” by many within the industry. ⁣
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𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘥/𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘰. 𝟷 is an oil on linen painting, created by O’Keeffe in 1932. The painting is notorious for its elegant portrayal of an otherwise nasty weed flower, a common theme of beautifying in O’Keeffe’s work. The piece holds great significance in modernistic American art history, representing an iconic subject that resonates deeply with many enthusiasts. So much so in fact, that the heiress to the Walmart empire — Alice Walton — purchased the artwork in a frantic bidding war in November 2014, with the gavel falling at the price tag of $44.4 Million USD. This moment at the Sotheby’s Art Auction in the U.S would alter the very fabric of the art world, ushering in a new era of neutrality & opulent price tags on female works.
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A report released by the auction ⁣⁣⁣⁣furthers the above claim, noting that artworks created by women have increased in value at their auctions by 72.9% from 2012-2018. Georgia O’Keeffe’s astonishing work was truly ahead of it’s time, though she was well-revered within her lifetime. At the age of only 44, O’Keeffe had a retrospective dedicated to her at the Brooklyn Museum in 1927, appreciating her work on a mass scale. ⁣