- The art of American painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) is splendid with color and laden with hidden sensuality. O’Keeffe’s fame was largely earned by her large-format flower pictures that have assured her an unusual place in the annals of art, between realist and abstract.Our Basic Art Series study traces the idiosyncratic of O’Keeffe’s career, and numerous illustrations document the most important periods in her lengthy life in art.