What was Georgia O'Keeffe's 1931 painting of a cow skull against an American flag titled?
Answer
Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue
Georgia O'Keeffe's 1931 painting of a cow skull against an American flag is titled Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue.
The painting combines a stark animal bone with the colors and pattern of the United States flag. O'Keeffe found bones and other desert remains in New Mexico and used them as recurring subjects. Their hard forms offered a different visual language from her soft flower paintings.
The work is often discussed as an image of the American Southwest, but its composition also connects regional material with national symbolism. O'Keeffe's paintings of bones were not simply documentary records of objects she found; she selected, enlarged, and arranged them to create forceful formal images.
The exact title matters because O'Keeffe made several paintings involving bones, skulls, and desert subjects. A shortened phrase such as “Cow's Skull” does not identify this particular work as precisely as the complete title.