What nickname is Georgia O'Keeffe often given for her role in U.S. modernism?

Georgia O'Keeffe is often called the Mother of American modernism.

The nickname reflects her importance in developing a distinctly American form of modernist painting. Her enlarged flowers, abstract charcoal drawings, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes made ordinary subjects feel monumental and visually unfamiliar.

O'Keeffe's career began before the major rise of Abstract Expressionism, but she did not belong neatly to one movement. She worked independently and resisted fixed interpretations, especially readings that reduced her flower paintings to symbols of female anatomy. Her own explanations emphasized looking closely at nature and giving viewers time to notice what they usually overlook.

The title is honorary rather than an official position or organization. O'Keeffe was one of several major American modernists, and her significance also rests on her sustained career, independence, and influence on later artists. Her work helped establish that major modern art could be made outside European artistic centers.