It was 1917 when Georgia O'Keefe painted a series of water colors on paper when she was a teacher in Texas. It is called "Evening Star."

"She is totally blown away by the sky she encounters in Texas — the colors of the sky, the vastness of the sky — and you can see her explore that across these eight sheets," Samantha Friedman, the associate curator of the department of drawings and prints at the Museum of Modern Art.

What You Need To Know

  • "Georgia O'Keeffe: To See Takes Time" is a new exhibition of the renowned artist's work at the Museum of Modern Art

  • The exhibition investigates the artist's work using charcoal, watercolor, pastel and pencil

  • There are nearly 130 works in the exhibition and it runs through Aug. 12
  • O'Keefe lived from 1887 to 1986

The series is being displayed together for the first time ever as part of an exhibition called "Georgia O'Keeffe: To See Takes Time" at the Museum of Modern Art.

The American artist known for her paintings of skyscrapers and enlarged flowers also created numerous works on paper using charcoal, watercolor, pencil and pastel. That is the focus of the exhibition, the first one devoted to O'Keeffe at the Museum of Modern Art since 1946.

"She might try a set of two lines in charcoal, then try it in black water color, then try it in blue water color, and she will see how those materials will change the composition that she is working with," Friedman, who curated the exhibition, said.

It features works from the Museum of Modern Art's collection and from lenders as well, showing a side of O'Keeffe that Friedman hopes will surprise even the biggest fans of the renowned artist, who lived from 1887 to 1986.

She lived and worked in New York City in the 1920s and also studied in town at the The Art Students League of New York.

"Artists are really complex. This is a subtle body of work and a really amazing body of work that I think people are not familiar enough with," Friedman said.

It is all on display at the Museum of Modern Art through Aug. 12.