the lawrence tree

bravo, lauren superbrain. it is indeed the lawrence tree! you win first prize, but a close second goes to me own poppy nick the greek. happy birthday and father's day also! and thank you for the explanation in my comments and for the beautiful quotes from o'keefe herself. take it away, dad...

From Nickipedia:
The Lawrence in "The Lawrence Tree" is author D.H. Lawrence. He had a ranch near Taos, New Mexico, and O'Keeffe visited. In her words:"...There was a long weathered carpenter's bench under the tall tree in front of the little old house that Lawrence had lived in there. I often lay on that bench looking up into the tree...past the trunk and up into the branches. It was particularly fine at night with the stars above the tree."But the most authoritative source regarding the painting's orientation is O'Keeffe herself, in two letters included in the National Gallery's catalog:"I had one particular painting -- that tree in Lawrences front yard as you see it when you lie under it on the table -- with stars -- it looks as tho it is standing on its head..." (Letter to Mabel Dodge Luhan from Taos, August 1929.)"...I also got a painting of the big pine tree as you see it lying on that table under it at night -- it looks as tho it is standing on its head with all the stars around -- Pretty good -- for me..." (Letter to Rebecca Strand [James] while on train from New Mexico to New York, 24 August 1929.)


there you have it, folks! a little art history for ya...
and now lamy has dsl so this whole blogging thing will not be as labor intensive. yay!!!
ciao!