AFA 18th Anniversary

18th Anniversary 134 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com O’Keeffe acquired many kimonos, buying her first ones in the 1910s, when she could find them in New York’s many emporia of imported Asian goods. Some were fashioned for the Western trade, some for domestic Japanese use. She may have also made one or two; commercial patterns for kimonos were readily available and their basic T-shape made them relatively easy to sew. When O’Keeffe traveled to Asia she also bought kimonos, and in the late 1970s and 1980s she purchased others from a store in Santa Fe. She had women’s and men’s styles and wore them in the Western manner, pulling them together with matching belts and narrow sashes rather than the traditional obi. She also overlapped the right side over the left side, rather than the other way around as the Japanese traditionally do. Padded kimono (Tanzen), ca. 1960s–70s. Gray striped silk, black silk faille, cotton. Inner garment: Kimono, white linen. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, N.Mex.; Gift of Juan and Anna Marie Hamilton (2000.03.0359). Photo © Gavin Ashworth.