Which U.S. city inspired Georgia O’Keeffe’s early skyscraper paintings?

New York City inspired Georgia O’Keeffe’s early skyscraper paintings.

O’Keeffe moved to New York in 1918 to pursue her career and became closely connected with the city’s modern art world. Its tall buildings provided subjects for paintings such as New York Street with Moon and Radiator Building—Night, New York. These works translated urban architecture into bold, simplified forms.

The skyscraper paintings are important because they show that O’Keeffe’s career was not defined only by flowers or New Mexico. She explored the city’s vertical structures, night lighting, and geometric patterns during a period when the modern skyline was becoming a powerful symbol of American modernity.

Chicago can be confused with New York because O’Keeffe studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and American skyscraper history is associated with several cities. However, the major urban architecture in her early mature paintings was New York’s Manhattan skyline. She continued to return to architectural subjects throughout her career.