Ansel Adams, Saint Francis Church Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, c. 1929 Gelatin silver print, 13 5/16 x 17 9/16 inches Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities, which opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum last week, shows that works of art can indeed converse with each other. With photographs by Adams and paintings by O’Keeffe, Natural Affinities features the artists’s depictions of the same, or similar scenes and locations, and examines two very different ways of thinking about nature.

Both artists captured the Southwest (and Adams the West), and its accompanying empty desert landscapes, wide, cavernous skies, and buildings, like the same small church in Taos, New Mexico. The 42 paintings by O’Keeffe and 54 photographs by Adams on display make for a large show, but one that is easily accessible, given the pairings that occur throughout the gallery.