Alon Bement taught Georgia O'Keeffe at the University of Virginia.
O'Keeffe worked as an art teacher and attended summer sessions at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Bement, an educator associated with progressive approaches to art instruction, introduced her to ideas that moved beyond strict imitation of visible objects.
Bement had studied with Arthur Wesley Dow, whose principles emphasized composition through line, color, and tonal relationships. O'Keeffe later studied directly with Dow at Teachers College, Columbia University, and his influence helped her find a more personal visual language.
A common mix-up is to identify Dow as her University of Virginia instructor. Dow was enormously important to O'Keeffe, but Bement was the teacher who first brought those ideas to her there. This distinction helps clarify the progression of her early development.