Georgia O'Keeffe's Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 set an auction record for a female artist in 2014.
Sotheby's sold the 1932 painting in New York on November 20, 2014. The winning price was $44.4 million including the buyer's premium. At that time, the sale established a record for the highest auction price paid for a work by a female artist.
The result drew attention not only to O'Keeffe but also to the long-standing imbalance between the prices of works by male and female artists. The image itself is unusually direct: a single white flower fills the canvas, with its petals set against a dark background. Its scale and clarity helped make it one of her most recognizable paintings.
The record was not permanent. Other works by female artists later sold for higher sums, including paintings by Louise Bourgeois and Frida Kahlo. Still, the 2014 sale remains a useful benchmark in O'Keeffe's market history and demonstrates the continuing importance of her flower paintings.