O’Keeffe, the architect and designer Alexander Girard, and his wife, Susan, shared a profound, four-decade-long friendship in which the three spent much time together in New Mexico and traveling the world. Their friendship further blossomed with a mutual exchange of design sensibilities.
Girard, a renowned textile designer and folk-art collector, influenced O’Keeffe’s home décor with his own inspirational designs and network of creative minds at the Herman Miller company. Herman Miller established itself as the primary purveyor of modern furniture and textiles in the mid-century, employing many of the designers featured in this exhibition, including Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, and Eero Saarinen.