1887-1986 Santa Fe Artist Georgia O'Keeffe Perhaps the best-known of America's early modernists, O'Keeffe was part of the influential circle of artists who exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's '291' gallery early in the 20th century. The Wisconsin-born painter worked as an art teacher and freelance commercial artist before being "discovered" by Stieglitz in 1916 and moving to New York soon afterwards. Already interested in abstract form and color, O'Keeffe absorbed the influences of photography as a result of her role as a photographic subject for Stieglitz and her interactions with the avant-garde photographers who revolved around '291,' most notably Paul Strand, Edward Steichen, and Charles Sheeler.

In her austere, reductive style, O'Keeffe painted New York cityscapes and views of Lake George (where Stieglitz had a summer home), and her signature close-up studies of flowers. She applied paint thinly and meticulously, creating the subtle gradations of color and tone that are hallmarks of her work. After first visiting Taos in 1929, O'Keeffe spent almost every summer there, and the desert landscape and other southwestern themes, including sun-bleached animal bones and the area's distinctive architecture,became the central focus of her art. She moved to Taos permanently in 1949. O'Keeffe traveled extensively to locations including Mexico, Bermuda, Hawaii, and the Middle and Far East, and her numerous honors and awards include the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. See Wikipedia for full acount of her fabulous legacy.