Georgia O'Keeffe's first known abstract watercolor series from 1915 was titled Specials.
O'Keeffe created the Specials series in 1915 while teaching art in South Carolina. The works used simplified, nonrepresentational forms and bold arrangements of line and color. They were part of a decisive change in her practice, as she moved away from the realistic exercises associated with her academic training.
The series is important because it demonstrates that O'Keeffe was making fully abstract work before her New York exhibitions and before she became famous for large flowers. Alfred Stieglitz exhibited some of these early abstractions in 1916 after receiving them through Anita Pollitzer.
The title can be confused with later bodies of work by O'Keeffe, including the Music series and the Equivalents associated with Stieglitz's photographs. Specials refers specifically to the early watercolor group and is a useful marker in the chronology of her artistic development.