Hibiscus with Plumeria

Intrigued by the opportunity to paint tropical flora, Georgia O'Keeffe accepted an offer from the Dole Pineapple Company for an all-expenses paid trip to the state of Hawaii to create a painting for the company's 1939 advertising campaign. She visited Maui, O'ahu, Hawai'i, and Kaua'i, painting the islands' dramatic gorges, waterfalls, and tropical flowers, among them Hibiscus with Plumeria. Pink and yellow petals towering against a clear blue sky transform the delicate blossoms into a joyous monumentality. But of the twenty canvases of Hawaii she completed, none showed a pineapple. Only after Dole had one flown to New York did she finally, if reluctantly, paint the desired fruit.