Does anyone remember artist Georgia O'Keeffe?
Georgia O'Keeffe? If you were around in 1933 and 1934, and especially if you lived in Somerset, the chances are that you may have done.
If so, the Masterworks Foundation would like to hear from you. For in October, they are planning a special exhibition, commemmorating the famous American artist's two visits to the Island.
Exhibition organisers are anxious to obtain as much information as possible about her time on the Island. At present, that information is rather sketchy.
Georgia O'Keeffe made two recuperative visits to Bermuda -- in 1933 and again in the following year, staying at The Parapet, a private home on Scaur Hill, and also for a time at Cambridge Beaches. During those trips, especially the first one, when she was recovering from a nervous collapse for which she had been hospitalised, O'Keeffe eschewed her customary colourful palette. Instead, she produced a series of graphite drawings of banana flowers and banyan trees.
One of those banyan drawings has since been acquired by Masterworks and it is hoped that a total of eight further drawings will be made availabe from various museums and private collections in the US for the exhibition.
Exhibition co-ordinator, Mrs.
Lisa Malloy says that four of the works to be loaned are in New Mexico (where O'Keeffe eventually made her home) and that "considerable interest'' has been expressed there in the projected Bermuda show.
"We are also hoping to stage a one-woman theatre production on the life of O'Keeffe and to present lectures in conjunction with this exhibition which commemorates the 60th anniversary of her visits to Bermuda,'' she says.
The exhibition, which is to be staged at the Bermuda National Gallery, is to be a joint effort between the two organisations.
Mrs. Malloy says that Masterworks is also hoping for some sponsorship in order to fund the show.
Anyone who remembers meeting O'Keeffe, or can supply any information in connection with her two Bermuda trips, is asked to contact the Masterworks Foundation at 295-5580, as soon as possible.
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE - As Somerset residents would remember her.