Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most important American artists ever. She was born in Wisconsin in 1887. She is best known for her huge close-up paintings of flowers. She painted them so big that people felt like they could walk right inside. She also loved painting the deserts and mountains of New Mexico. Her bold, colorful style made her one of the first famous women artists in America.

Giant Flowers

O'Keeffe painted flowers so large that a single blossom could fill an entire canvas. She said that nobody really sees a flower because it is so small. So she painted them big to make people stop and look. Her paintings of irises, poppies, and jimson weeds glow with rich colors. These close-up flower paintings became her most famous works and can be seen in museums all over the country.

Life in the Desert

O'Keeffe fell in love with the desert of New Mexico. She moved there and spent the rest of her life painting its landscapes. She painted red cliffs, blue skies, dry bones, and adobe buildings. She found beauty in the empty, wide-open spaces. She also painted animal skulls she found in the desert, sometimes floating in front of flowers or blue sky. She lived to be 98 years old and kept making art nearly her whole life.

Fun Facts

• O'Keeffe once said that she decided to be an artist when she was about ten years old.
• She lived in a tiny adobe house in the New Mexico desert with no running water at first.
• Her painting Jimson Weed sold for over 44 million dollars, the most ever paid for a painting by a woman artist at that time.

Did You Know?

Georgia O'Keeffe kept painting until she was almost 100 years old, even after she lost most of her eyesight!