Flowers Number 6

About the Art

Stettheimer was an artist, poet, costume and stage designer. Born into a wealthy family, as an adult she shared a home with her two sisters (Carrie and Ettie) in New York. Together, they held regular salons, or gatherings, for significant avant-garde artists of the twentieth century, including Marcel Duchamp, Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe. Following a lukewarm reception for her exhibition of paintings in 1916, Stettheimer rarely exhibited her work publicly. O’Keeffe wrote to her in 1929, stating “I wish you would become ordinary like the rest of us and show your paintings this year!”

Although trained in an academic manner, Stettheimer developed a theatrical style that rejected traditional representation. Her works are personal expressions that convey her experiences and relationships with friends. In addition to painting, Stettheimer was deeply involved in theater, and the blue dancing figurine in the lower center of the painting is likely one of the many models she made as part of her elaborate costume and stage sets. Her most prominent theater designs were for the 1934 premier of the avant-garde opera Four Saints in Three Acts, written by Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thompson.

FEATURED IMAGE
Florine Stettheimer (American, 1871–1944), Flowers Number 6, around 1915, oil on canvas, 30 x 36 inches (76.2 x 91.4 cm). Gift of the Estate of Ettie Stettheimer, 1965.133