By Niki Ciccotelli Stewart

Rizzoli Electa has unveiled Through the Long Desert: Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright, a captivating new release by author Sarah Rovang. A richly illustrated exploration of newfound connections between American cultural icons Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright, this groundbreaking volume places the artist and architect side by side, shedding light on their lives, work, and mutual love of the American desert. Created in association with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, this new publication has been in the making for eight years.

In 2017, Rovang attended a panel discussion in her hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cody Hartley, Director of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and Stuart Graff, then President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, were discussing the many ways that O’Keeffe and Wright seemed similar. An audience member asked if the two artists knew one another, and the panel responded that they did, and someone should write a book about that! As Sarah remembers it, she took an entire week to gather the courage and email the panelists saying she’d love to be the person to write that book. Through the Long Desert is the beautiful result of that brave step.

In researching the book, Rovang traveled from New Mexico to Arizona, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and New York. She visited the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University to review O’Keeffe’s papers, and the Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library at Columbia University to see Wright’s archive. She explored the collections and libraries of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Research Center and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s collections at Taliesin and Taliesin West. These trips showed her there was plenty of material for the story she hoped to tell, and she set to work writing.

Along the way, Rovang found treasures; drawings that hadn’t been seen in decades, exquisite photographs of the two legends, and the correspondence that solidified the idea that they’d been friends. She discovered that, as fellow modernists, they had many mutual friends and the connections between them were stronger than expected.

As the story unfolded, the power of friendship was revealed. O’Keeffe and Wright’s connection was strong and inspirational, even though they did not spend a lot of time together. So often, we think of inspiration coming from those we see every day — close collaborators, partners, and local friends. But in the case of these two icons, they inspired one another deeply — and often, from afar. Rovang hopes this idea will shine through the story and inspire us all to recognize those people who inspire us, even from a distance.

During this time, the team at Taliesin West was working on a similar story. The exhibition, American Icons: Wright and O’Keeffe, was in the research phase in 2022 and 2023. Shown from October 2023 to June 2024, it told a similar story in a different way by highlighting the connections between Wright and O’Keeffe through the photographs of Tony Vaccaro.

Throughout those years of research, Rovang and curator Niki Stewart often worked together to share resources, ideas, and data they’d uncovered. They continually shared their work and read early versions of wall text, labels, and book chapters. Not unlike Wright and O’Keeffe, Rovang and Stewart inspired each other’s work. Their shared interest in these two legendary figures became the basis of a strong friendship that continues today, across the miles.

If you enjoyed American Icons: Wright and O’Keeffe, you’ll love taking a deeper dive into these two visionary artists with Through the Long Desert. The book is available at the Frank Lloyd Wright Store at Taliesin West and online.

Get your copy before the October 23, 2025, Sunsets and Sips, where you can meet Sarah Rovang and have your book signed. Tickets are available now. ■

This article appeared in the Fall 2025 Quarterly. If you would like to receive the Quarterly, consider purchasing a membership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Full details here.

About the Author

Sarah Rovang is an Architectural Historian based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born in Albuquerque, Sarah holds a doctorate in the history of art and architecture from Brown University and specializes in rural and industrial American landscapes. After thirteen years of school, travel, and teaching, she finally made it back to her home state.

Sarah is currently living her best post-academic life in Santa Fe with her husband, daughter, and rescue mutt. By day, she is a program evaluator for the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. When not masquerading as a policy wonk, she trains in Olympic weightlifting, sews elaborate Halloween costumes for her kid, and spends way too much time babying her pumpkin patch.