Which 1926 Georgia O’Keeffe painting is named after a black iris flower?

The 1926 Georgia O’Keeffe painting named after a black iris flower is Black Iris III.

O’Keeffe created several paintings of iris flowers during the 1920s, enlarging the blossoms so that their curves and folds fill the picture space. Black Iris III is one of the best-known works from this group and is dated 1926.

Her flower paintings are often interpreted as symbolic or erotic, but O’Keeffe repeatedly resisted the idea that they should be read only through that lens. She emphasized looking closely at flowers and suggested that their small scale in nature caused people to overlook their visual complexity.

Black Iris III should not be confused with O’Keeffe’s later paintings of red canna lilies or jimson weed. The Roman numeral is also important: her iris series includes multiple works with closely related titles, so the exact title distinguishes this painting from other black-iris compositions.