She and her husband Alfred Stieglitz, himself a renowned photographer, led a somewhat unconventional lifestyle, according to the social morals of the time. She was an independent woman, not only did she travel by herself to summer in New Mexico, she transformed herself from a farm girl into a mysterious woman, austere but sophisticated in appearance, she was known as a woman of few words.
In 1972, O’Keeffe lost much of her eyesight due to macular degeneration, leaving her with only peripheral vision. She stopped oil painting without assistance in 1972. In the 1970s, she made a series of works in watercolor. Her autobiography, Georgia O’Keeffe, published in 1976 was a best seller.