Black Iris is Georgia O'Keeffe's 1926 painting known for its enlarged black iris.
The work presents a close-up view of an iris flower, magnifying its dark central forms and surrounding petals. O'Keeffe's flower paintings often enlarge natural subjects far beyond their ordinary scale, encouraging viewers to notice shapes, folds, colors, and transitions that might otherwise be overlooked.
Black Iris has frequently been interpreted symbolically, especially in discussions that connect O'Keeffe's flowers with sexuality. O'Keeffe rejected the idea that her flowers were simply coded representations of female anatomy. She said viewers should take time to look closely at flowers themselves, since people often do not notice them carefully.
The painting belongs to the period when O'Keeffe was becoming one of the best-known American modernists. Its title is sometimes confused with Black Iris III, another O'Keeffe work from the same broad subject group, but the question refers to the 1926 painting titled Black Iris.