Love has no definition. Georgia O’Keeffe and Juan Hamilton.

Juan Hamilton - a beautiful, tall and lanky 27 year old turned up on the door step of Georgia O’Keeffe in 1973. She was 84, an undeniable star of American modernism and an owner of a multimillion dollar art empire. She was also legally blind from Macular Degeneration. He was a divorced, unemployed pottery maker, looking for work.

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Hamilton found a lot more than just work with the enigmatic artist. Their partnership was strong and certainly symbiotic. It lasted 13 years. Hamilton helped her publish books, create artworks, negotiate with art dealers, museums and agents, travelled with her, looked after her when she was unwell. He was her bodyguard, her secretary, her assistant, her companion, her friend, her eyes.

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After her death in 1984 it was revealed that a few years earlier, O’Keeffe’s had changed her will to make Hamilton the primary beneficiary and executor for the majority of her $70 million estate. In the lawsuits that followed O’Keeffe’s and Hamilton’s relationship was sadly, predictably and humiliatingly dragged through the mud. Hamilton agreed to settle by relinquishing most of the wealth to her foundation.

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In 1983 both O’Keeffe and Hamilton were interviewed by Andy Warhol. We get a tiny glimpse of their complex and intimate relationship from the last poignant exchange:

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HAMILTON: Georgia, tell Andy about how you got your mountain. Remember when somebody was interviewing you, and you said, “That’s my mountain.” And they said, “What do you mean that’s your mountain?” You said, “God told me if I painted it enough he’d give it to me.” Isn’t that true?

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O’KEEFFE: And I’m still working on it.