Petunia
Petunia No. 2, 1924
Georgia O’Keeffe
Oil on Canvas
Lake George, New York
Georgia O’Keeffe
Oil on Canvas
Lake George, New York
Georgia O’Keeffe was captured by the nature of her garden on her lover's estate around lake George around the 1920s. She planted flowers, that had been grown there, her first large-scale painting was of blue and purple petunias. O'Keeffe wanted to focus on the colors, hues, and textures that she personally interprets from the flower. By magnifying the petunia, she tried to create the essence of the flower and its value into nature, to make people stop observe what we often overlook.
The Petunia's origin is from South America, belonging to the nightshade family, the petunia is closely related with tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes and chili peppers! In Ancient times, the Mayan and Incas had thought that the petunia would chase away the underworlds monsters and spirits, they also felt that the petunia would only thrive in a place with positive energy.
When Argentina was under Spanish rule exploration was forbidden. When the Spanish fell during the Napoleonic Wars, Argentina was able to gain self-rule by 1816. In 1825, the nation adopted one of the most liberal policies on emigration to encourage farmers, merchants, and trained professionals to come to settle the land. This brought James Tweedie, the head gardener at the botanic garden at Edinburgh, Scotland.
Tweedie traveled though Argentina and introduced new plants to Europe, which included the original wild petunia. Eventually, the petunia made its way to the United States where the hybrid petunia as we know today was developed. The first hybridization of petunias was done by a Mrs. Thomas Gould of California in the late 1800's. Mrs. Thomas Gould had established the first large flowered forms in the California Giant strains and where they are still in cultivation as late as 1980.
As an annual plant, the petunia can grow in most environments in North American allowing for it to be one of O’Keeffe’s most painted subjects