Lake George inspired many Georgia O’Keeffe paintings during the 1920s.
O’Keeffe spent substantial periods at Lake George, in the Adirondack region of New York, with Alfred Stieglitz and his family. The area provided forests, water, hills, seasonal vegetation, and brightly colored natural forms that became recurring subjects in her work.
Her Lake George paintings include still lifes, landscapes, and close views of leaves, fruit, flowers, and other objects. Rather than recording the scenery like a conventional landscape painter, she often simplified or enlarged elements until they approached abstraction.
Lake George is sometimes confused with O’Keeffe’s later New Mexico locations. New Mexico became the setting most strongly associated with her mature career, but Lake George was an important earlier source of subject matter and experimentation. Stieglitz also made photographs of O’Keeffe and the surrounding area there.