Purple Petunias, 1925

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) painted sweeping, near-abstract representations of flowers, still life and barren landscapes. By magnifying her compositions she was able to "fill the space in a beautiful way", cropping out the inessential to focus purely on shape and colour and creating immersive close-ups.

Known as the 'mother of American Modernism', O'Keeffe's work 'Jimson Weed' (1932) is the most expensive painting by a female artist ever sold at auction.