The museum I have chosen to explore is the Brooklyn Museum, located in New York City. This museum has a variety of exhibitions from ancient Egyptian sculpture and mummies to modern paintings and sculptures. The artwork that particularly interests me is a painting by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe called From the Faraway, Nearby (1937). As this painting contains elements of both abstract expressionism as well as realism, it appealed to me because it gives me an insight into how she used her work to express her feelings about the world around her.

When looking at O’Keeffe’s painting From the Faraway, Nearby I am immediately struck by its bold composition and vivid colors. In terms of composition, there are two distinct elements within this piece: an off-center landscape with mountains in the background and a cluster of shapes in the foreground that form an abstracted figure or face. By placing these two disparate elements together within one painting, O’Keeffe creates tension between them which serves to draw attention to each element more keenly than if they were placed separately on their own canvas. Additionally, by placing them side-by-side she allows for comparison between them as if highlighting similarities or differences between reality and fantasy. For example, although some might initially see only random shapes forming an unrecognizable shape in the foreground but upon closer inspection it can be seen that those shapes represent a human face with eyes looking up towards Heaven above – this speaks volumes about O’Keefe’s desire for spiritual transcendence beyond earthly existence