Nature Symbolized: Identity, Memory & Place

MoMa Gallery Analysis



Georgia O’Keeffe’s Lake George, Coat and Red (1919)



Tarsila do Amaral The Moon (1928)


    Nature Symbolized, MoMA’s current gallery on the 5th floor, explores the innovative methods by which early 20th-century American artists reimagined the natural world through the lens of modernism. Samatha Friedman, Lydia Mullin, and Rachel Remick, curators of the exhibit, designed the space to demonstrate these artists' formal techniques of European avant-gardes, specifically American subjects. This gallery utilizes diverse mediums such as painting, drawing, photography, and film, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the rich symbolic approach to cultural identity, spiritual inquiry, and artistic experimentation through nature.

    The gallery’s design parallels this narrative through white walls and ample spacing, allowing the vibrant works to become the central focal point while maintaining a streamlined flow, guiding viewers through the gallery's overall narrative. By placing works that feature shared themes or stylistic approaches together, the space creates a visual dialogue that underpins the interconnectedness of nature and artistic expression. The general layout of the gallery encourages viewers to engage individually with each piece as part of an overarching conversation about the role of nature in shaping modernism in the Americas.

    Georgia O’Keeffe’s Lake George, Coat and Red (1919) and Tarsila do Amaral The Moon (1928) both demonstrate themes of personal memory and place through their distinct culture and stylistic lenses, translating these influences into unique visual languages. O’Keeffe’s Lake George, Coat and Red (1919) juxtaposes deep red and cool blue colors, reflecting her emotional response and connection to Lake George, New York–a place she shared with her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Bold, simplified forms redefine the landscape into its core elements, allowing O’Keeffe to represent Lake George as a connection rather than a literal representation.

    Created almost a decade later, Tarsila do Amaral’s The Moon explores similar themes through her Brazilian heritage and exposure to the Parisian avant-garde. Her merging of Indigenous symbols with clean lines and a minimalist palette depicts a surreal desert landscape that captures nature's timelessness. At the same time, symbolism, as seen through the dominating moon and anthropomorphic cactus, evokes modes of solitude and introspection, reflecting do Amaral’s journey of identity, reconciled through being both Brazilian and a modern artist.

    Both paintings demonstrate simplified, expressive colors, forms, and compositions to represent landscapes yet diverge in their intimate, emotional chords and cultural context. O’Keeffe demonstrates warmth and immediacy with bold colors, potentially suggesting a deep personal connection, while do Amaral conveys mystery, solitude, and contemplation through cool tones and barren landscapes.

    If I were the curator, I would position these works together, side by side, as they were not during my visit. The juxtaposition would push forth how these artists utilized nature as a source of exploring personal identity, memory, and place; though contrasting in geography and style, this approach would emphasize the universal appeal of nature as a theme while simultaneously demonstrating the diverse ways in which modern artists approached nature through their cultural spheres.