The Museum of Modern Art gave Georgia O'Keeffe her first retrospective in 1946.
The exhibition was organized in New York and marked a major institutional recognition of her career. A retrospective differs from a standard group or single-work exhibition because it surveys an artist’s development across multiple periods and bodies of work.
O'Keeffe had already gained attention through her abstract drawings, flower paintings, New York cityscapes, and New Mexico subjects. The 1946 presentation brought these strands together and established her as a major American modernist rather than limiting her reputation to one category of image.
The retrospective opened shortly after Alfred Stieglitz died in 1946. Although Stieglitz had been an important early promoter, O'Keeffe’s museum recognition reflected the breadth and durability of her own work. She continued producing art for decades, and later exhibitions expanded public understanding of her landscapes, architectural forms, bones, flowers, and abstract compositions.