Which teacher's ideas about composition influenced Georgia O'Keeffe's abstract style?

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Arthur Wesley Dow's ideas about composition influenced Georgia O'Keeffe's abstract style.

Dow was an American artist and educator who taught that art could be organized through the expressive relationships of line, color, and tone. His approach offered an alternative to instruction based mainly on realistic imitation. O'Keeffe encountered his ideas through his book Composition and through teaching influenced by his methods.

After studying Dow's principles, O'Keeffe produced a series of abstract charcoal drawings in 1915. She sent some of them to Anita Pollitzer, who showed them to Alfred Stieglitz. Those drawings led to O'Keeffe's first gallery exhibition in 1916 and helped launch her professional career.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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