Georgia O’Keeffe received the National Medal of Arts in 1985.
The National Medal of Arts is a United States honor recognizing outstanding contributions to American artistic life. O’Keeffe received the medal late in her career, after decades of work that had helped define American modernism and brought international attention to subjects such as flowers, skyscrapers, bones, and Southwestern landscapes.
The award should not be confused with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which O’Keeffe received earlier, in 1977. Both are major national honors, but they are separate awards with different histories and purposes. The National Medal of Arts was established by Congress in 1984, and its first medals were presented in 1985.
By the time of the 1985 award, O’Keeffe was widely recognized as a pioneering American artist. Her career had begun with abstract drawings in the 1910s and continued through major museum exhibitions, influential paintings, and a lasting impact on American art.