American Icons: Georgia O’keeffe’s Skull Paintings

“The men were all talking about the great American novel, the great American play,…the great American everything,” said Georgia O’Keeffe, who fled the East Coast art world for New Mexico. “So I thought . . . I’ll make it an American painting.”
O’Keeffe painted cow and deer skulls floating over delicate abstract landscapes of the New Mexico desert. An art historian, a tour guide, and an interior designer explain the appeal of the skulls; a retiree tells how their magnetism drew her to settle in the Southwest. Produced by Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler.
(Originally aired: November 12, 2010)
Check out the Georgia O’Keeffe slideshow on the feature page on our American Icons website.