What nickname is commonly given to Georgia O'Keeffe in American art history?

Georgia O'Keeffe is commonly called the “Mother of American modernism.”

The nickname reflects her influential role in establishing a distinctly American modernist vocabulary. Her paintings used simplified forms, intense color, and close-up views of flowers, bones, landscapes, and architecture.

O'Keeffe resisted being reduced to a single subject or interpretation. Although flower paintings became especially famous, her work also included New York skyscrapers, Southwestern crosses, animal bones, clouds, and abstract compositions.

The phrase is an art-historical description, not an official title. It also should not be confused with “mother of abstract expressionism,” a label associated with other artists and movements. O'Keeffe's career developed before and alongside abstract expressionism, but her own work is generally discussed within American modernism.