Jacksonville , FL  – The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens presents Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Times: American Modernism from the Lane Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston . This exhibition of 20^th-century American art, on view through April 12, 2009, highlights 12 masterpieces by Georgia O’Keeffe and additional modernist paintings by significant American artists such as Charles Sheeler, Arthur G. Dove, Stuart Davis, and Marsden Hartley.

“The opportunity to borrow these pieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from one of the pre-eminent collections of American Modernist paintings in the world, and share them with the city of Jacksonville, couldn't be passed up,” said Curator Holly Keris. "Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Charles Sheeler - these all are important American artists whose work is not represented in The Cummer's permanent collection.”

Georgia O’Keeffe is an iconic presence in American artistic and cultural history. Her name is immediately recognized, not just by art connoisseurs but also by the general public. Throughout her career her name has been linked with many artists, such as photographers Alfred Stieglitz --her dealer and lover for 15 years--, Paul Strand, and artists of the stature of Stuart Davis and Hartley. An independent spirit, she fought hard for women’s rights, she is also very well known for the spiritual and transcendental qualities of her art, especially as it applies to her paintings of New Mexico.

The works of art in the exhibition are drawn from the Lane Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, considered to be one of the best collections of American Modernism. William H. Lane (1914-1995), owner of a small Massachusetts manufacturing plant, formed his pioneering collection in the early 1950s when these painters were little understood. Today they are considered the most important American artists of the early 20^th century. The exhibition features 45 paintings that outline the development and diversity of American Modernism through the eyes of a passionate collector. Such iconic images as O’Keeffe’s Deer’s Skull with Pedernal, Sheeler’s Ore into Iron, and Dove’s That Red One are included in the exhibition.

“O’Keeffe is best known for her minimal compositions depicting elements of New Mexico’s landscape,” said Keris. “The arc of O’Keeffe’s artistic development is exemplified acutely through the selection of 12 of her masterpieces from the Lane Collection.”

O’Keeffe, born in 1887 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, lived to be 98 years of age.  She trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League in New York. Her first show was held at the now famous 291 Gallery in New York. She began to draw national interest after an article in Vanity Fair in 1922 brought her work to the attention of a wide and fashionable audience. After the crash of 1929, O’Keeffe began to spend more and more time in Taos, New Mexico, eventually making the Southwest her preferred home and studio.

The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  This exhibition is sponsored by Elkins Constructors, Inc, AT&T, Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and City of Jacksonville. Visit The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens at : www.cummer.org