Black Iris is the 1926 Georgia O'Keeffe painting that enlarges a dark iris against a pale background.
The work presents the flower at an unusually close scale, turning its central folds and petals into an almost abstract arrangement of curves and shadows. O'Keeffe repeatedly enlarged flowers so viewers had to confront their structures rather than glance at them as small decorative objects.
The painting is often discussed in connection with O'Keeffe’s flower series, which became some of her most recognizable work during the 1920s. She rejected the idea that the paintings should be reduced to a single symbolic reading, and she emphasized looking closely at the flowers themselves.
Black Iris is also associated with the broader group of iris paintings she made in the mid-1920s. It should not be confused with Black Iris III, a related work from the same year and subject sequence.