It'd be hard to find a person who hasn't seen the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986). Did you know that she has a sister who also painted professionally?
Her sister was Ida Ten Eyck O'Keeffe (1889-1961). Unlike Georgia, Ida was not as focused on the singularity of art as a career.
Ida studied nursing as a means of supporting herself and it would be years before she would seriously seek out art trainng and internship. By that time, Georgia was a well-known artist in the all-important NY art market.
Rather than compete with Georgia, Ida switched from nature as her subject to architecture. Her most famous series is her Light House works. Along the way, she and Georgia had a falling out and they never reconciled.
Nowadays, Ida, who also signed her works as "Ida Ten Eyck," is gaining more interest than during her life.... especially for her more abstract works.
Here is a sampling of her evolution from nature all the way to the abstract:
I enjoy looking at the nature longer than the abstract. The abstract is too busy for me; making me want to look away, idk.
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