When you think of Georgia O'Keeffe, you probably think of the New Mexico landscapes she painted. Maybe you associate her with Wisconsin where she was born, West Texas where she taught, or New York where she shot to fame and cemented her legacy as one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. O'Keeffe has left her mark on the many places around the U.S. that have informed her style, but the time she spent in Illinois was fundamental in setting her up for a career in the arts. This summer the Art Institute of Chicago is hosting an exhibition called "Georgia O'Keeffe: My New Yorks" that showcases a number of her paintings from when she was living in New York. I was pleasantly surprised to see O'Keeffe's connection to Chicago on display, even if not in the title of the exhibit.

The exhibition has been up since June and can be seen through September.

This collection of works hones in on a certain period of her career.

The exhibit is located on the second floor of the Art Institute in Regenstein Hall.

The works shown as a part of her "New Yorks" center around pieces completed during the 1920s and early 30s.

There is no comparison for seeing O'Keeffe's shimming hues and playful handling of light in-person.

But this painting, "The Shelton with Sunspots, N.Y." has a captivating quality that translates even through photographs. O'Keeffe lived in this hotel from 1925 to 1936, and the way she captures the boldness of the building surrounded by hazy city skies feels similar to what it looks like walking out of the Art Institute in the Loop.

Notably, before she embarked on the New York chapter of her career, O'Keeffe had attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

While she was only enrolled for a year, the time she spend as a student here solidified her commitment to being an artist. After spending some time away to recover from an illness, she came back to work as a commercial illustrator in the city for a while. O'Keeffe had a longstanding relationship with the museum after her first retrospective was displayed here in 1943.

A video was playing in the center of the exhibition hall featuring some curators and art historians talking about O'Keeffe's time in New York.

I highly recommend spending some time with the works themselves before hearing about them from the experts.

So many of O'Keeffe's cityscapes lean into the linear planes and dramatic colors that define cities at the quieter hours of the day.

While these scenes are specific to New York, it's hard not to be reminded that the first skyscraper was built in Chicago. There are so many differences between NYC and Chicago, but there is something universal about the way O'Keeffe captures what it is like to gaze up at a skyscraper.

More New York-specific works like this one of the Brooklyn Bridge shine a light on how in-tune O'Keeffe was to the physicality and textures of the industrial landscapes around her.

Near the end of her time in New York, O'Keeffe began visiting the Southwest where she would bring back flowers, bones and other objects that let her explore abstraction more than ever before.

The exhibition is all about O'Keeffe, but not all of the art is hers.

These palladium prints feature O'Keeffe as the subject. She was photographed by her husband Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz is often credited with helping to get O'Keeffe's artwork seen by all the right people, but the two served as artistic muses for each other during their time in New York.

At the end of the exhibit, there are some tables with publications featuring interviews with O'Keeffe and more images of her work.

This photograph of O'Keeffe standing in her garage with "Sky above Clouds IV", which is displayed in the Art Institute, offers a glimpse into her artistic process. The 24-foot-long painting is prominently featured on the museum's maps and brochures. There's no doubt, O'Keeffe is one of the superstars of the institute even when this exhibition isn't up.

Ultimately, "My New Yorks" is focused on New York, but seeing it situated in the Art Institute of Chicago underscores the role that Illinois played in supporting this artist, regardless of the places she was painting.

I cannot recommend enough stopping by the Art Institute of Chicago to explore O'Keeffe's connection to New York as well as Chicago.

This exhibit will be on display for a couple more months, but it seems like O'Keeffe's works in the museum's permanent collection will be on display for a long time to come. If heading to downtown Chicago isn't on your schedule for the near future, there are plenty of art galleries all across the state that are worth exploring. If you would rather bring art into your home than see it hanging in a gallery, check out these Georgia O'Keeffe-inspired artworks that could brighten up your living space. Have you seen O'Keeffe's artwork in the Art Institute of Chicago?