Born in Wisconsin in 1887, Georgia O’Keeffe studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York. Her career gained significant momentum in 1916 when photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz exhibited her charcoal drawings, marking the beginning of her professional recognition and their long-term personal and professional partnership.

O’Keeffe is celebrated for her distinct approach to abstraction and representation, utilizing fluid lines and bold color palettes to render natural forms. Her signature work often focuses on magnified botanical subjects, animal skulls, and the stark, expansive vistas of the American Southwest, where she eventually settled permanently.

Throughout her seven-decade career, O’Keeffe remained independent of prevailing art movements, establishing a singular visual language. Her legacy is cemented by her extensive body of work that bridged the gap between traditional landscape painting and modernist abstraction, maintaining a profound influence on 20th-century American art.