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“They don’t understand that’s [the blues is] life’s way of talking. You don’t sing to feel better. You sing ‘cause that’s a way of understanding life.”

MA RAINEY

A collection of her songs from 1924 to 1928, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” album remains a classic of the blues genre.

FABULOUS FIRSTS
	FIRST POPULAR ENTERTAINER TO PERFORM THE BLUES ON STAGE

BLUESY BUSINESSWOMAN

In 1923, Ma made her first record for Paramount Records. This was to be part of the first wave of blues records. (Mamie Smith was the first black woman to record an album, in 1920.) Ma’s songs dealt with love and work, and the everyday lives of Southern African-Americans. Ma worked with many famous musicians and singers of her day, including Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins. Ma was known as a savvy businesswoman, and she also owned two entertainment venues: the Lyric Theater and the Airdome.

Not only was Ma Rainey important to the evolution of blues music, her work inspired a wide range of musicians, as well as poets and novelists, such as Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, and Alice Walker. Ma has been inducted into both the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame (in 1983) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 1990) for her tremendous contributions to music of all genres.

GEORGIA O’KEEFFEMOTHER OF AMERICAN MODERNISM

FULL NAME: Georgia Totto O’Keeffe

BORN: NOVEMBER 15, 1887, SUN PRAIRIE, WISCONSIN, U.S.A.

DIED: MARCH 6, 1986, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A.

NATIONALITY: AMERICAN

Cow skulls and colorful flowers featured heavily in Georgia’s work.

MODERN AMERICA ON CANVAS

Even if you don’t know the name “Georgia O’Keeffe,” chances are you’ve seen her work. Georgia is one of the most well-known American painters of all time. Her paintings are bold and brightly colored and grace the walls of museums around the world, as well as greeting cards and posters. She painted huge canvases with iconic images of America, including New York skyscrapers, Southwestern deserts and cow skulls, and huge flowers and clouds.

FROM SKYSCRAPERS TO COW SKULLS

Georgia came from a family of Wisconsin dairy farmers, and she was the second of seven children. As a young girl, she was taught watercolor painting. By age ten, she knew she would be an artist. She went on to study at the Art Institute of Chicago (which now houses the majority of her works) and the Art Students League in New York. There, she was taught revolutionary ideas of composition. The charcoal drawings she did as a result made Georgia one of the very first American artists to produce abstract art—this was her first exhibited work, in 1916. The art dealer and photographer responsible for this exhibition was Alfred Stieglitz. Alfred and Georgia would eventually marry, and Alfred would spend the rest of his life as Georgia’s supporter. By the 1920s, Georgia was becoming famous for her now-trademark themes of skyscrapers and flowers. Soon after, she began traveling to New Mexico. The desert landscapes made their way into her work, as a beautiful contrast to her skyscraper pieces. Her desire for new ideas led her to travel internationally, and she produced incredible paintings of the mountains of Peru and Japan.

Georgia painted the deserts and rock formations of New Mexico.

A U.S. postage stamp from 2013 commemorating Georgia’s work

FAMOUS PAINTER AND FEMINIST ICON

Later in life, Georgia suffered from an eye condition called macular degeneration that caused her to lose her sight. But she refused to be defeated. Georgia painted her last work without help at the age of 85. After that, she had the help of several assistants and continued to create beautiful art that she pictured in her imagination. Georgia was painting at a time when most famous artists were men, but she continued with her unique style and found great success. Her work is described as distinctly “female” for its curvy, “feminine” lines and close-ups, as well as her focus on nature. She has become a feminist icon, both for her distinct style and determination. Georgia was awarded the National Medal of Arts, in 1977, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1985, for her huge contribution to the arts. She remains one of the most important and influential American painters of all time and is known as the Mother of American Modernism.

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