From the river

Pale ribbons of gray and lavender snake through this canvas, curling like rivers seen from high above. Georgia O'Keeffe filled the space with soft washes of green, purple, and silver, blurring the line between land and dream. She was never interested in copying every rock and bend of a stream. Instead she chased the feeling of a place, letting the shapes melt together so the whole thing reads more like a memory than a map.

Most people know O'Keeffe for her giant flowers and the sun-bleached bones of the New Mexico desert, but this painting from 1926 shows a gentler, more mysterious side of her work. Water seems to trickle down through rolling hills, though nothing is spelled out too clearly. Her deep affection for the natural world runs through every stroke here, turning a simple stretch of scenery into something quiet and calm. Let your eyes wander across it and the winding rivers slowly come into view.