The subject of Georgia O'Keeffe's 1926 painting Black Iris is an iris.
O'Keeffe painted many close-up views of flowers, and Black Iris is one of her best-known examples. The work presents the flower at an unusually large scale, using dark petals and carefully controlled forms to emphasize its folds, curves, and central structure.
The painting is often discussed in relation to O'Keeffe's modernist practice rather than as a botanical illustration. She simplified and magnified natural forms, allowing viewers to experience them as abstract compositions. The title identifies the flower's appearance, even though the image is stylized rather than a scientific record of a particular specimen.
O'Keeffe rejected simplistic claims that her flower paintings were straightforward symbols of female anatomy. She insisted that viewers should look closely at the flowers themselves. Black Iris therefore belongs both to her flower series and to the broader history of American modernism.