New York City inspired Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings of skyscrapers such as Radiator Building—Night. O'Keeffe lived and worked in New York during important periods of her career, and the city's tall buildings became major subjects in her paintings.
Radiator Building—Night, New York was painted in 1927 and presents the American Radiator Building as a dramatic, dark skyscraper with glowing red and orange accents. The work reflects the visual energy of Manhattan and the influence of modern urban architecture on American artists.
O'Keeffe is often identified mainly with New Mexico, but New York was equally important to her early professional life. She lived in Manhattan with Alfred Stieglitz and painted city views as well as flowers and abstract forms. Her New York scenes are not documentary street pictures; they use simplified shapes, strong contrasts, and unusual viewpoints to transform architecture into a modernist subject.