Georgia O'Keeffe’s 1916 abstract charcoal series was called “Specials.” The drawings belonged to an early group of nonrepresentational works that helped define her emerging artistic language.
Anita Pollitzer showed some of these drawings to Alfred Stieglitz, who exhibited them at his gallery 291. Their appearance there introduced O'Keeffe to New York’s modernist art world and led to her first solo exhibition at the gallery the following year.
“Specials” is an important title because the series predates many of O'Keeffe’s better-known flower and New Mexico paintings. Its simplified lines and abstract forms demonstrate that her interest in abstraction was fundamental, not merely a later interpretation of natural subjects.
The series is sometimes confused with named works such as “Blue Lines” or with the later “Music” paintings. Those titles refer to different works, while “Specials” identifies the 1916 charcoal group associated with her breakthrough.