G eorgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was a pioneer in the art world for her unique, large-scale, and simplified interpretations of natural forms, especially flowers and bones. She is considered one of the 20th century’s most significant artists, and her works contributed to the development of modern art in America.

O’Keeffe’s formal, traditional art education started at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League in New York. But her painting and drawing techniques dramatically shifted when she later studied under Arthur Wesley Dow. Under his tutelage, O’Keeffe experimented with abstract charcoal drawing while she taught art in West Texas. She shared some of those drawings with a friend in New York, who in turn showed them to Alfred Stieglitz, an art dealer and renowned photographer, who decided to represent O’Keeffe.

Georgia O’Keeffe married Stieglitz in 1924. By her late thirties, she was one of America’s most significant and successful artists—known for her paintings of skyscrapers and radical depictions of flowers. Starting in the summer of 1929, O’Keeffe spent the next two decades summering in New Mexico and permanently moved there in 1949 after her husband’s death, spending time with friends in Taos, at her house in Abiquiu, and at Ghost Ranch.

In the 1950s, O’Keeffe traveled internationally, painting and sketching the countries she visited, including the mountain peaks of Peru and Japan’s Mount Fuji. In 1960, she shifted her attention to aerial views of clouds and skies. In her later years, with her eyesight failing due to macular degeneration, she recruited a series of assistants to help her continue creating art. Her last assistant, John Hamilton, taught O’Keeffe to work with clay and helped her write her autobiography.

Georgia O’Keeffe died in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 98.