''Rust Red Hills'' is a 1930

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

by American artist

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

. It depicts red and brown hills under a glowing red and yellow sky in northern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, most likely in the vicinity of

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colony founded in Taos, New Mexico ** Taos Pueblo, a Native American ...

. At its initial exhibition in 1931, O'Keeffe indicated that it was one of her own best-loved paintings from that time period. The work is currently held by the

Brauer Museum of Art The Brauer Museum of Art is an art museum at Valparaiso University, a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is home to a collection of 19th- and 20th-century American art, world religious art, and Midwestern regional art. It is located i ...

, but in 2023,

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...

, which runs the museum, announced they planned to sell the painting and two others to raise money to renovate the student dormitories. Art associations protested the pending sale as an ethical violation of the

deaccessioning Deaccessioning is the process by which a work of art or other object is permanently removed from a Collection (artwork), museum's collection to sell it or otherwise dispose of it.Report from the AAMD Task Force on Deaccessioning. 2010. ''AAMD Pol ...

process.

Background

Georgia O'Keeffe's relationship with

, which would later become part of her artistic identity, was ignited by a brief visit to the state with her sister in 1917 and deepened through her interactions with her friends in the 1920s, including

Paul Strand Paul Strand (October 16, 1890 – March 31, 1976) was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century. ...

, Rebecca Salsbury James,

Paul Rosenfeld Paul Leopold Rosenfeld (May 4, 1890 – July 21, 1946) was an American journalist, best known as a music critic. Biography He was born in New York City into a German-Jewish family, the son of Clara (née Liebmann) and Julius Rosenfield. His mot ...

, and

Dorothy Brett Hon. Dorothy Eugénie Brett (10 November 1883 – 27 August 1977) was an Anglo-American painter, remembered as much for her social life as for her art. Born into an aristocratic British family, she lived a sheltered early life. During her ...

, all of whom shared vivid accounts of their experiences in the region, piquing O'Keeffe's curiosity. It was not until 1929 that she accepted an invitation from

Mabel Dodge Luhan Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan (pronounced ''LOO-hahn''; née Ganson; February 26, 1879 – August 13, 1962) was an American patron of the arts, who was particularly associated with the Taos art colony. Early life Mabel Ganson was the heiress o ...

, a key figure in the Taos art colony. For the next two summers, from 1929 to 1930, O'Keeffe painted throughout Taos,

Alcade ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal counci ...

, and near Abiquiu.Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter (2005)

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * La ...

br>''Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O'Keeffe''
New York: W. W. Norton. p. 324. . . * Reily, Nancy Hopkins (2014). ''Georgia O'Keeffe, A Private Friendship''. Part I. Sunstone Press. . . The region's southwestern Pueblo architecture, cultural motifs, and stark natural beauty unique to the

geography of New Mexico With a total area of , New Mexico is the fifth-largest state, after Alaska, Texas, California, and Montana. Its eastern border lies along 103°W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and west of 103°W longitude with Texas (due to a 19th-c ...

found profound expression in her work. O'Keeffe's artistic output during this period includes her series on the

San Francisco de Asís Mission Church San Francisco de Asís Parish Church is an historic and architecturally significant Catholic church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Archdiocese of Santa Fe. During the 18th century, it was the cen ...

(''Ranchos Church, Taos'', 1929; ''Ranchos Church'', 1930), an exploration of local religious iconography and architectural form, and the iconography of the

Penitentes Penitente or penitentes may refer to * Penitente or penitent, any (typically Catholic) practitioner of ritual penance ** A member of the Penitentes (New Mexico), a lay confraternity of Catholic men ** A member of any historical penitent order * Pe ...

(''Black Cross, New Mexico'', 1929), a devout religious group known for their distinctive crosses. She also found herself fascinated with the vast, rugged landscapes, turning her attention to hills and mountains (''Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie's II'', 1930; ''The Mountain, New Mexico'', 1931). One painting from this series, ''Mountain at Bear Lake — Taos'' (1930), was gifted to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in 1997 and currently hangs in the

White House Library The White House Library is a room in the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. The room is approximately and is in the northeast corner of the ground floor. The library is used for teas and meetings hosted by ...

as part of the permanent

White House art collection The White House's art collection, sometimes also called the White House Collection or Pride of the American Nation, has grown over time from donations from descendants of the Founding Fathers to commissions by established artists. It comprises pai ...

Development

In 1930, Georgia O'Keeffe created 54 works, some of which were created in Maine and New York, though the majority were completed in New Mexico."Georgia O'Keeffe's Artistic Career"
. Data visualization.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O'Keeffe, her life, American modernism, and public engagement. It opened on July 17, 1997, eleven years after the artist's death. It comprises multiple sites in two locat ...

. October 25, 2024. In April of that year, she continued her exploration of natural forms in Maine, expanding on her ongoing shell series first initiated in the 1920s (''Shell and Old Shingle I'', ''Shell and Old Shingle VII'', 1926; ''Shell No. 2'', 1928) and continuing sporadically into the 1930s (''Clam Shell'', 1930; ''Two Pink Shells/Pink Shell'', 1937).Messinger, Lisa Mintz (2001)
''Georgia O'Keeffe''
London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 104-121. . . By May, O'Keeffe was painting in Lake George, New York (''Lake George Early Moonrise'', 1930). During her second stay in New Mexico, from June to September, O'Keeffe completed ''Rust Red Hills'', also known as ''Hills - Back of Mabel's, Taos'', and the alternate title ''Toward Abiquiu, New Mexico''."Rust Red Hills"
Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum. This painting was one of approximately 19 works she completed in the summer of 1930, including both drawings and paintings, centered on the region's distinctive hills, mesas, and mountains in and around the towns of Taos, Alcade, and the areas surrounding Abiquiu.

Depiction

It is now believed the painting was made in the area of

Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...

. Previously, it was thought that the painting depicted the hills near the town of Abiquiu.Hertzlieb, Gregg (Fall/Winter 2009-2010)
"Georgia O'Keeffe: Rust Red Hills"
''Valparaiso Poetry Review''. XI (1). Retrieved October 27, 2024. Despite misnomers in several titles of related works (such as ''Near Abiquiu, New Mexico'', 1930, which was made near Taos, not Abiquiu), partially caused by Stieglitz or others adding erroneous titles to the paintings before they were corrected by O'Keeffe, some of the works in this series may have been completed north of the

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos language, Taos-speaking (Tiwa languages, Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan peoples, Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. T ...

, not in Abiquiu, depicting different views of Lobo Peak in the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountai ...

Provenance

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

purchased the work for their employee art collection in 1958 from the

Downtown Gallery The Downtown Gallery was the first commercial art gallery established in 1926 by Edith Halpert in Greenwich Village, New York City, United States. At the time it was founded, it was the only New York gallery dedicated exclusively to contemporary Am ...

in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was exhibited in Minneapolis and lent out to various museums. The 1953 Percy H. Sloan endowment to

allowed Richard H. W. Brauer to purchase ''Rust Red Hills'' for the university art museum in 1962 for $5,700. He was able to authenticate the work directly with Georgia O'Keeffe. It was the second painting acquired by the new museum and was added to the permanent collection of what was later renamed the

Deaccessioning

In early 2023,

, led by president José Padilla, announced plans to sell three significant paintings, including Georgia O'Keeffe's ''Rust Red Hills'', to fund dormitory renovations amidst financial struggles and declining enrollment. The proposal ignited protests from faculty, students and the larger art community. Valparaiso defended their plan, arguing that the artworks were not essential to its educational mission. With the O'Keeffe painting alone being worth between $10-15 million,Lavalley, Amy (June 21, 2024)
"Valparaiso University cuts 14 staff, including museum director, in restructuring effort"
. ''Post-Tribune''. Retrieved October 29, 2024. the proposed sale of all three paintings would allow Valparaiso to raise the needed funds. The

was opposed by the

Association of Art Museum Directors The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) is an organization of art museum directors from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The AAMD was established in 1916 by the directors of twelve American museums and was formally incorporated in 1969 ...

(AAMD), the

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

(AAM), the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG), and the

Association of Art Museum Curators The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) was founded in New York in 2001 to support the role of curators in shaping the mission of art museums in North America. History The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts was founded in 1799, t ...

(AAMC), citing ethical guidelines that generally restrict the use of deaccessioned art funds for purposes unrelated to art. Richard H. W. Brauer filed a lawsuit, but he failed to establish standing and it was dismissed.Cui, Liya (February 23, 2024)
"Indiana Court Allows Valparaiso University to Sell O'Keeffe Painting"
'' U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved October 29, 2024. *LaValley, Amy (June 20, 2023)
"Indiana AG files for dismissal of lawsuit against Valpo U over artwork sale"
''Post-Tribune''. Retrieved October 29, 2024. In June 2024, Padilla closed the Brauer Museum and laid off all staff. With the museum closed, ''Rust Red Hills'' is currently secured in an off-site storage area as of September 2024.

Exhibitions

The painting was first exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's An American Place gallery in 1931, where it was shown without a visible title, despite the title (''Hills - Back of Mabel's, Taos'') appearing on the stretcher bar on the

verso ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...

. Here, O'Keeffe signed her initials within a star, a symbol she used to mark a selected painting she personally preferred as special and well liked. Several decades later, the painting appeared in a 1953 exhibition tour at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Mayo Hill Galleries in Florida. It has been included in touring exhibitions in 1961, 1965, 1980, 2004, 2008, and in 2013, appearing throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Spain. The painting also appeared at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

in 2016 in the United Kingdom."Georgia O'Keeffe"
. 6 July - 30 October 2016.

. Retrieved October 25, 2024. *''Georgia O'Keeffe: Recent Paintings, New Mexico, New York, Etc. -- Etc.'' (1931) *''An Exhibition of Paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe'' (1953) * ''American Business and the Arts'' (1961) *''Georgia O'Keeffe'' (1965) *''Georgia O'Keeffe An Exhibition of Oils, Watercolors and Drawings'' (1980) *''Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico: A Sense of Place'' (2004) *''Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams'' (2008) *''Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam, and the Land'' (2013) * ''Georgia O'Keeffe'' (2016)

References

{{Georgia O'Keeffe 1930 paintings Paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe Valparaiso University