This painting portrays clouds rolling in over Lake George in upstate New York, where O’Keeffe and her companion, the photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz often vacationed. Although it initially appears to be a completely abstract work, references to the water, sky, and the wooded hills surrounding the lake become apparent on closer examination. The intense colors and swirling shapes suggest the wind and movement of summer storm. Like this painting, much of O’Keeffe’s art hovers between abstraction and realistic depictions of the landscape, often in an attempt to capture the transcendent or spiritual qualities she found in nature.