What was Georgia O’Keeffe’s first major New York skyscraper painting series centered on?

Georgia O’Keeffe’s first major New York skyscraper series centered on the Shelton Hotel.

O’Keeffe began painting New York City skyscrapers in the 1920s, when the city’s rapidly rising skyline symbolized modern American life. Her subjects included views from the Shelton Hotel, where she and Alfred Stieglitz lived for periods after their marriage. She transformed buildings, rooftops, and nighttime streets into sharply structured compositions.

The Shelton Hotel, now known as the New York Marriott East Side, opened in 1923 at Lexington Avenue and 49th Street. Its height and location gave O’Keeffe elevated views over Manhattan. Her paintings from the hotel include cityscapes that emphasize geometric forms, vertical lines, and artificial light.

O’Keeffe also painted particular skyscrapers, including the Radiator Building, but the Shelton Hotel is the key setting for her early skyscraper series. These urban works are sometimes overshadowed by her flowers and New Mexico paintings, yet they show her responding directly to architecture and the visual energy of modern New York.