Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986) was an American painter known for her modernist works featuring flowers, bones, landscapes, New York skyscrapers, and forms inspired by northern New Mexico.

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986) was an American painter known for her modernist works featuring flowers, bones, landscapes, New York skyscrapers, and forms inspired by northern New Mexico. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and a major figure in American modernism.

Early life and education

O'Keeffe was born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, in 1887 and decided early in life to become an artist. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League in New York, which helped shape her technical foundation.

Artistic style and themes

Her paintings are known for simplified shapes, strong composition, and close attention to colour and form. She often transformed natural subjects such as flowers, animal bones, New York City skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes into large, striking images that became central to American modernism.

Career and recognition

By the mid-1920s, O'Keeffe was recognized as one of the most important and successful American artists. Her reputation grew through exhibitions and her association with major modern art circles in New York.

New Mexico years

O'Keeffe spent much of her later life in New Mexico, where the landscape deeply influenced her art. The region became one of her most enduring subjects and a defining part of her legacy. She died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1986 at the age of 98.