The New York gallery 291 first exhibited Georgia O'Keeffe's drawings.
The gallery was founded and operated by Alfred Stieglitz at 291 Fifth Avenue, which supplied its name. In 1916, Stieglitz displayed a selection of O'Keeffe's abstract charcoal drawings there after receiving them through Anita Pollitzer.
This exhibition introduced O'Keeffe to influential figures in New York's modern-art circle. Her drawings were nonrepresentational, and their bold lines and shapes challenged the academic expectations that had shaped much of her earlier training.
291 was much more than a commercial gallery. It helped introduce American audiences to European modernists, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Constantin Brâncuși. The gallery closed in 1917, but its exhibitions had already helped establish O'Keeffe's professional reputation.