nd accepted his offer of financial support allowing her to paint full time. They were married six years later. Painting seasonally at Lake George and in Manhattan, O'Keeffe reflected the influences of place in her work.“ Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.”(Hogrefe, pg 78) Her annual exhibits at Stieglitz's galleries and subsequent museum shows established her as a major figure in American Modernism and propelled her to international fame. In her yearly visits to New Mexico, being a loner, Georgia wanted to explore this wonderful place on her own. She bought a Model A Ford and asked others to teach her how to drive. After one particularly exasperating moment, one of her teachers declared that she was unable to learn the art of driving. Only her determination was to lead to mastering her machine. She would travel the back roads in the Model A...having removed the backseat, would unbolt the front seat, turning it around so that she could prop her canvas against the back wall of the car. After her second visit to New Mexico in 1929, O'Keeffe returned for many summers to live and paint the magnificent landscapes she came to cherish. Georgia would return to "her land" each summer. In 1940, she acquired a house at Ghost Ranch where she worked during her visits. After Stieglitz's death in New York in 1946, O'Keeffe spent three years in the city settling his estate. In 1949 at age 62, she made New Mexico her permanent residence, dividing her time between her summer home at Ghost Ranch and an adobe house she had renovated in the historic village of Abiquiu. O'Keeffe traveled internationally, painted and continued to enjoy her status as one of the top American artist. Throughout her life, O'Keeffe made contributions to the history of American art. In 1977, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Gerald R. Ford. Always a unique s...
