Which flower did Georgia O'Keeffe depict in the 1932 painting later sold for a record $44.4 million?

The story behind the answer

Georgia O'Keeffe's 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 depicts a jimson weed flower.

The painting shows a single large white flower against a dark background, using O'Keeffe's characteristic close-up scale. She often enlarged flowers so viewers had to confront their shapes and details rather than treating them as small decorative objects.

In November 2014, the work sold at Sotheby's for $44.4 million, including buyer's premium. It became the highest auction price ever paid for a painting by a female artist at that time. The work had been given to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum by the artist's foundation before the sale.

Jimson weed is also called Datura, and that botanical name can cause confusion when identifying the painting. The canonical title includes White Flower No. 1, while the plant itself is commonly known as jimson weed.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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