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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Dark Iris No. 2, 1927
Image: okeeffe_CR603_dark-iris-no-2_794812.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
Dark Iris No. 2, 1927
Oil on canvas, 32 x 21 inches
CR No. 603
Oil on canvas, 32 x 21 inches
Collection:Private Collection
CR No. 603

Layers of pinkish white petals open to reveal the dark burgundy center of this semiabstract flower. The center of the flower resembles an upside-down heart and is situated on the bottom right corner of the work. Rippling lines of gray and black run along the righthand side of the composition.

CR No. 603

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Dark Iris No. 2

Source of title: Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, 1928 New York (Intimate Gallery–O'Keeffe) exhibition checklist.

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Iris No. 2

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

Iris No. – 2

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

Black Iris No. 2

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

Iris #2

Source of title: Downtown Gallery label.

Dark Iris No. II

Source of title: Abiquiú Notebooks.

Selected Exhibition Titles

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

Black Iris, No, 2
Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstract Variations, 2020, Seattle Art Museum (Seattle)

General Remarks

Whitney Archive indicates, "Exam. at Amer. Place, April 1946. . . . On backing: 'Iris No. 2' 1927." Abiquiú Notebooks after 1977 indicates, "Sold by Halpert, July 1961." (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Inscriptions

Stretcher: inaccessible. Verso: inaccessible. Backing: 1. OK {5star} (black crayon) 2. "Iris No. 2 / by Georgia O'Keeffe / 1927" (Alfred Stieglitz, black crayon) 3. "Iris No – 2. / 1927 / by – Georgia O'Keeffe" (Andrew Droth, Label: printed, An American Place, black ink) (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

(The Downtown Gallery, New York, NY); Private collection, San Antonio, Texas, 1961; Sotheby's, New York, NY, sale no. 5860, lot no. 213, 24 May 1989; (Citibank Art Advistory Service, New York, NY) (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 3/30/2026

Source System ID

8670

Other IDs

603, Catalogue Raisonné