Which New York art teacher strongly influenced Georgia O’Keeffe at Columbia University?

Arthur Wesley Dow strongly influenced Georgia O’Keeffe at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Dow taught that art could be built from the organized relationships of line, color, and tone rather than from strict imitation of nature. This approach gave O’Keeffe a new way to think about composition and helped her move beyond the academic realism she had previously learned.

O’Keeffe studied with Dow in 1914 and 1915. His ideas were especially important because they encouraged her to make independent, simplified designs. She later described his teaching as a turning point in her development.

Dow was also an influential educator and author. His book Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure was widely used in American art education. O’Keeffe’s later abstractions cannot be reduced to his lessons, but his emphasis on formal structure was a major early influence.