American, b. 1887, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin — d. 1986, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Lived and worked in Chicago, New York City, West Texas and Taos, New Mexico

Georgia O'Keeffe, one of America’s greatest modernist painters, did not follow any specific artistic movement, but experimented with abstracting motifs from nature. She worked in series, synthesizing abstraction and realism to produce works that emphasized the primary forms of nature. While some of these works are highly detailed, in others, she stripped away what she considered the inessential to focus on shape and color. Through intense observation of nature, experimentation with scale, and nuanced use of line and color, O'Keeffe's art remained grounded in representation even while pushing at its limit.

O'Keeffe began spending time in New Mexico in 1929, settling permanently in Taos in 1946. She became enthralled with the mesas, Spanish architecture, wooden crucifixes, fauna, and desert terrain. These all became elements in some of her paintings. O'Keeffe did not go in for symbolism. I simply paint what I see, she is quoted as saying.

Georgia O’Keeffe has been exhibited many times in retrospectives at the world’s most prestigious art museums, most recently in 2016 at the Tate Modern, in London, England.