SANTA FE, NM.- The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum announced the receipt of a generous gift of correspondence from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. The gift is comprised of 110 letters from Georgia O’Keeffe to her sister Anita O’Keeffe Young, written between the years 1929 to 1976. The correspondence provides insight into the two sisters’ close relationship and O’Keeffe’s daily life in Northern New Mexico.

“The gift is important to O’Keeffe’s legacy and to the mission of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s Research Center because it provides context and insight into O’Keeffe’s life and personality,” said Eumie Imm Stroukoff, Emily Fisher Landau Director of the Research Center. “There are some absolutely remarkable passages in the letters,” she continues.

O’Keeffe also writes about the day-to-day aspects of dealing with paintings, for example in a letter to Anita she references a winter cottonwoods painting, now in the collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

“I have just written the Downtown Gallery to phone you and when they are sure you are there to deliver the painting. If you don’t get it in a few days go get it yourself—it might be safer. ‘Winter Cottonwoods East V—1954’ Best thoughts to you both -- The spring here has been lovely since I am back—the worst winds were over.”

The correspondence will be processed and a guide to the collection will be available on the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s web site in 2017, enabling the public online access to the digital images of the letters. Letters will be transcribed and linked to the digital images of the correspondence. The collection of letters will become part of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s holdings and be available to researchers by appointment.