Georgia O'Keeffe made her first charcoal abstractions in 1915.
These drawings marked a decisive break from the academic realism she had been taught. Rather than copying visible objects, O'Keeffe used line, shape, and tonal variation to explore sensation and feeling. She sent a group of the drawings to her friend Anita Pollitzer, who showed them to the photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz.
Stieglitz exhibited the drawings in 1916 at his New York gallery, 291, without O'Keeffe's initial permission. The presentation helped introduce her work to the American avant-garde and began a professional relationship that later became personal and marital. The 1915 date refers specifically to the charcoal abstraction series, not to the beginning of all her artistic activity. O'Keeffe had already studied and worked as an art teacher before making this experimental group.