A new exhibition focusing on the architectural works of Georgia O'Keeffe opened at the Detroit Institute of Arts on September 11, 2026. Titled "Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture," the show features approximately 35 paintings created between the 1920s and 1960s, highlighting subjects such as New York skyscrapers, rural barns, and New Mexico adobe structures. While O’Keeffe is widely recognized for her paintings of flowers and desert landscapes, curator Ben Colman noted that flower pictures represent only about 10% of her total body of work.
The exhibition presents O'Keeffe’s interest in built environments through an autobiographical lens, tracing her life from a Wisconsin dairy farm to Manhattan and eventually to New Mexico. According to Colman, O'Keeffe was conscious of selecting subjects, such as architectural forms, that she believed would not be perceived as typically feminine in their composition. Throughout her career, the artist completed approximately 140 architectural paintings, experimenting with line, geometry, and color to depict the texture and atmosphere of the places where she lived and worked.
Key works in the exhibition include "My Shanty, Lake George" (1922), "Stables" (1932), and "Taos Pueblo" (1929/1934). The collection includes loans from institutions such as the Phillips Collection, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. The Detroit Institute of Arts is also offering an exhibition catalogue edited by Benjamin W. Colman and published by Yale University Press to accompany the show.
The exhibition affects art museum visitors, students of American modernism, and residents of the tri-county Detroit area. By showcasing approximately 35 architectural works, the exhibit challenges common public perceptions of O'Keeffe, whose flower paintings—despite making up only 10% of her output—often overshadow her other contributions. Visitors to the Detroit Institute of Arts will notice differences in ticket pricing depending on their residency: general admission is $30 for adults and $15 for youth, while residents of the tri-county area (Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb) receive a rate of $20 for adults and $10 for youth. Members of the museum receive free exhibition tickets based on their membership level.
The scale of the artist's architectural interest is evidenced by the approximately 140 paintings she completed on the subject over four decades. The exhibition introduces a perspective on how O'Keeffe viewed urban and rural environments, moving beyond the natural desert themes for which she is most famous. The inclusion of works like "Brooklyn Bridge" (1949) and "East River from the 30th Story of the Shelton Hotel" (1928) demonstrates how the artist engaged with the urbanization of the 20th century, specifically the rise of Manhattan skyscrapers.
This exhibition establishes a collaborative link between the Detroit Institute of Arts and several national lending institutions, including the Eiteljorg Museum and the Chrysler Museum of Art. The exhibition is scheduled to remain open through January 3, 2027. Following the Detroit run, the artist’s legacy continues to be preserved by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, which maintains her historic home and studio in Abiquiú, New Mexico.