Georgia O'Keeffe's first widely exhibited series of charcoal abstractions was known as Specials. These drawings, made around 1915, were among the earliest fully abstract works produced by an American artist.
The series used sweeping lines, curves, and simplified forms rather than recognizable subjects. O'Keeffe’s approach developed partly from her engagement with ideas about art education and design, but the drawings also showed a personal visual language that did not depend on direct depiction.
Alfred Stieglitz exhibited some of the works at his 291 gallery in New York in 1916. Their appearance attracted attention because abstraction by an American artist was still unusual, and the drawings helped establish O'Keeffe’s public reputation before her later flower and landscape paintings became famous.
The term Specials can be overlooked because the drawings are also discussed more generally as early abstractions. They should not be confused with her later series named Music, which explored related ideas through different forms and titles.