Georgia O'Keeffe

American artist Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, was best-known for her blazing and sensual images of landscapes, flowers, and animal skulls.

Pictured: "Evening Star No. VI" (1917) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Abstraction with Curve and Circle"

"Abstraction with Curve and Circle" (c. 1915-16) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

O'Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Art Students League in New York, O'Keefe's works first won notice in 1916 at the New York City gallery run by the famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

George O'Keeffe

O'Keeffe soon became Stieglitz's muse, and his model ... and, in 1924, his wife.

Left: Georgia O'Keeffe as photographed by Alfred Stieglitz in 1918.

"Blanket Drawing"

"Blanket Drawing" (c. 1915-16) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Black Lines"

"Black Lines" (1916) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Blue II"

"Blue II" (1916) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Corn, No. 2"

"Corn, No. 2" (1924) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Abstraction White Rose"

"Abstraction White Rose" (1927) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

George O'Keeffe

A Stieglitz portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe from 1929.

It was in 1929 that O'Keeffe made her first trip to New Mexico, where the desert landscape fascinated her.

"Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie's II"

"The country, my God. I saw the country from the hill up there," she said in a 1981 CBS interview. "The road went high over the hill and I looked out over the valley, and the red hills and these cliffs go quite a distance -- and nobody was there."

Pictured: "Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie's II" (1930) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Black Hollyhock Blue Larkspur"

"Black Hollyhock Blue Larkspur" (1930) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Horse's Skull with White Rose"

"Horse's Skull with White Rose" (1931) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

Inspired by her surroundings, Georgia O'Keeffe painted flowers ... animal skulls ... and the vibrant colors of the desert landscape. "I painted it so often, it became mine," she said.

"Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1"

"Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1" (1932) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

"Ram's Head, Blue Morning Glory"

Pictured: "Ram's Head, Blue Morning Glory" (1938) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

Following Stieglitz's death in 1946, O'Keeffe moved to New Mexico permanently.

George O'Keeffe

Pictured: Georgia O'Keeffe in 1960 with a canvas from her "Pelvis" series, "Red With Yellow."

O'Keeffe died in Santa Fe, N.M., on March 6, 1986. She was 98.

"Pelvis IV"

Santa Fe's Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is more than just a repository of more than 3,000 of her works and personal items: it's the most-visited art museum in the state of New Mexico.

Pictured:"Pelvis IV" (1944) by Georgia O'Keeffe.

For more info:

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, N.M.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan