Which Georgia O'Keeffe painting shows a cow's skull with the American flag's colors?

The story behind the answer

Georgia O'Keeffe's painting of a cow's skull in the American flag's colors is Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue.

O'Keeffe painted Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue in 1931. The work places a bleached animal skull against a dark background and gives it a stark red, white, and blue treatment, linking a found object from the Southwest with a distinctly American visual identity.

Animal bones became recurring subjects in O'Keeffe's New Mexico work. She collected bones from the desert and transformed them into monumental forms, encouraging viewers to see them as elegant structures rather than merely remains.

The title supplies the key distinction from her many other skull paintings. O'Keeffe made several works featuring cow, ram, and horse bones, so identifying the colors is important when separating this painting from related compositions.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

Add question to a list

Choose a list to keep this question in: