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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Dark Iris, 1927
Image: okeeffe_CR583_dark-iris_824406.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Dark Iris, 1927
Oil on canvas, 32 x 12 inches
CR No. 583
Collection of the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, FA 1954.4
Oil on canvas, 32 x 12 inches
Collection of the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, FA 1954.4
CR No. 583

A green stem extends through the center of this narrow composition. Atop the stem is an iris flower with dark purple lower petals and pale gray center petals. The flower sits against a textured white and gray background.

CR No. 583

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Dark Iris

Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks.

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Dark Iris No. 1

Title used by Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.

Selected Exhibition Titles

Dark Iris No. 1
Georgia O'Keeffe: The Poetry of Things, 1999, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (Santa Fe)

Iris [Dark Iris I]
Georgia O'Keeffe: The Poetry of Things, 1999, The Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.)

General Remarks

Whitney Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks indicate, "Letter from Mr. Oliver B. James. . . . March 5, 1946: "I own . . . 'Iris'. 1929. . . . Oil on canvas, unsigned." Note: Miss O'Keeffe thinks the above is Mr. James' 'Iris.' It might possibly be one of the 'Dark Iris' of the previous year, but in any case it was definitely painted in 1926 or 1927." Dated 1927 on basis of inclusion in 1928 New York (Intimate Gallery–O'Keeffe) exhibition. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

Stretcher: inaccessible. Verso: inaccessible. Backing: Label: handwritten, "An American Place' / 509 Madison Ave —Room 1710 / (S.E. corner 53rd St) — New York"0 (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

[Not provided by contributing organization in 2025 catalogue review.]

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 3/30/2026

Last verified by current collection Sep 02 2025

Source System ID

8653

Other IDs

583, Catalogue Raisonné