Georgia O'Keeffe used charcoal for her 1915 series of abstract drawings.
The series marked a decisive break from the representational art instruction she had received. O'Keeffe used sweeping lines, arcs, and simplified forms to explore visual ideas without directly depicting recognizable objects. She made the drawings while teaching in Texas and South Carolina.
Anita Pollitzer carried some of these drawings to Alfred Stieglitz in New York, and he exhibited them at 291 in 1916. Stieglitz's presentation made the series a major turning point in O'Keeffe's career. Although she later became famous for oil paintings, these charcoal works were central to her emergence as an abstract artist.