Which artist created the 1926 painting Black Iris?

Georgia O'Keeffe created the 1926 painting Black Iris.

Black Iris is an oil painting that magnifies the forms and folds of a dark iris flower. O'Keeffe frequently enlarged flowers so that viewers had to confront their shapes and colors at close range. The work belongs to the period when her flower paintings became central to her public identity.

The painting is often discussed alongside O'Keeffe's other iris images, including Dark Iris No. III and Black Iris III. Those similar titles can cause confusion, but Black Iris is a distinct 1926 work. O'Keeffe rejected the idea that her flowers should be reduced to a single symbolic interpretation and emphasized looking closely at the visual subject itself.

O'Keeffe's flower paintings are associated with American modernism because they combine recognizable natural forms with simplified, enlarged compositions. Black Iris demonstrates her ability to make a familiar botanical subject feel monumental and abstract without abandoning its organic structure.