From a Day with Juan IV

Georgia O’Keeffe painted this canvas in response to seeing the Washington Monument on a trip to Washington, DC, in October 1976 with her assistant Juan Hamilton. She depicted it as an abstract form, a solid white block that dominates the composition, leaving narrow triangles of blue sky on either side. One can envision the 90-year-old artist craning her neck to take in the monumental shape, drawn to its strict geometries, as she toured the Mall on a brilliant fall day.