National Women's Month: Georgia O'Keeffe

Continuing to honor women painters for Women’s History Month, let’s visit a work by Georgia O’Keefe (1897 - 1986). 

Often called the “mother of American Modernism,” Georgia O’Keeffe developed a groundbreaking abstract style defined by distilled landscapes and large-scale depictions of flowers and animal bones—transforming ordinary subjects into monumental forms.

From early on, O’Keeffe understood the importance of both financial and creative independence. She learned valuable lessons in career management from her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, particularly in controlling the market for her work.

After Stieglitz’s death in 1946, O’Keeffe took that control even further—strategically buying back her own paintings from collectors and at auction to sustain the high market values he had established.

By the time of her death at age 98, she owned nearly half of the approximately 2,000 works she created during her lifetime and left behind an estate valued at more than $70 million!!

The photo below is of her painting titled Pedernal - From the Ranch #7 (1956), taken by yours truly in Montreal, at ISA’s Assets 2024.