What 1946 distinction did Georgia O'Keeffe receive from the Museum of Modern Art?

Georgia O'Keeffe received the distinction of being the first woman artist to receive a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 1946. The exhibition, Georgia O'Keeffe, opened in New York and surveyed her career from early abstractions through flower paintings and New Mexico subjects.

The retrospective was organized by the curator and art historian Dorothy C. Miller. It recognized O'Keeffe as a major modern artist at a time when museums often gave greater institutional attention to male artists. The exhibition also helped define the broad range of her work for a national audience.

This distinction does not mean O'Keeffe was the first woman represented at MoMA, nor does it mean the first retrospective there was devoted to an American. It specifically refers to the museum's first retrospective devoted to a woman artist. O'Keeffe later received many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.