Which major 1939 Hawaiian commission led Georgia O'Keeffe to paint plants and landscapes for Dole?
Answer
Dole pineapple advertising commission
Answer
Dole pineapple advertising commission
A Dole pineapple advertising commission led Georgia O'Keeffe to paint Hawaiian plants and landscapes in 1939.
The Hawaiian Pineapple Company, now associated with the Dole Food Company, invited O'Keeffe to Hawaii in 1939. She spent about nine weeks traveling and painting on the islands. The company wanted images that could support its advertising, but O'Keeffe pursued her own interests as well, making studies of tropical plants, flowers, cliffs, waterfalls, and volcanic terrain.
The commission produced more than a dozen paintings, including works of pineapple plants and Hawaiian flowers. O'Keeffe did not initially find a pineapple suitable for painting, so the company shipped one to New York after she returned. She then painted it in 1943, completing the practical advertising assignment after the trip itself.
The Hawaii paintings are sometimes overlooked because they fall between her New York and New Mexico periods. They nevertheless show how O'Keeffe adapted her close-looking method to unfamiliar tropical forms while retaining her characteristic simplification and enlarged compositions.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026