Skip to main content
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Access O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
White Iris, 1930
Image: okeeffe_CR721_white-iris_824470.jpg
Georgia O'Keeffe
White Iris, 1930
Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches
CR No. 721
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce C. Gottwald
Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce C. Gottwald
CR No. 721

A white iris with a yellow center blooms across the canvas. Hints of pink, green, and yellow appear on the flower's soft petals.

CR No. 721

Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

White Iris

Source of title: Whitney Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks, 1931 New York (An American Place) checklist.

Alternate Title (1999 Catalogue Raisonné)

Light Iris

Source of title: Downtown Gallery Archive.

General Remarks

Museum files indicate inscription from lost backing: "Light Iris – 1924?/O'Keeffe" (medium unknown, photocopy); "For Philadelphia Museum" (Alfred Stieglitz, medium unknown, photocopy); "Light Iris – 1924/by Georgia O'Keeffe" (Andrew Droth, An American Place2, medium unknown, photocopy). Whitney Archive indicates, "Painted 1930. Exam. at Amer. Place, March 1946." Abiquiú Notebooks notes first and third inscriptions indicated in museum file. Backing inscriptions date 1924 and 1924? Whitney Archive, Downtown Gallery Archive, Abiquiú Notebooks date 1930. Dated 1930 on basis of inclusion in 1931 New York (An American Place) exhibition; pictured in 1931 Stieglitz installation photograph, see Appendix III, figure 47. (Source: Lynes, 1999)

Technique

Oil Painting

Materials

Oil on canvas

Doris Bry, New York; N.Y.;
Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, N.Y.;
Baron Henry Thyssen-Bornemesza, Lugano, Switzerland (1974);
Kennedy Galleries, New York, N.Y.;
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce C. Gottwald, Richmond, Va. (1977);
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, December 20, 1985 -present
(Source: Virginia Museum of Fine Art, 2026)

Credits & Rights

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Administrative Information

Version History

Core fields last updated 5/5/2026

Last verified by current collection Mar 02 2026

Source System ID

8765

Other IDs

721, Catalogue Raisonné

Conservation

Information is from the most recently submitted report, please contact the current owner to verify updated details.
REPORT NOTES

Information provided for Access O'Keeffe in 2026.

CONDITION NARRATIVE

The painting is in good condition overall. The four membered stretcher is stucturally stable and offers adequate support for the canvas. The miters and keys have been covered in wax, rendering them immobile. The unlined canvas is securely attached to the stretcher, remains taut, but exhibits some planar deformations including; stretcher bar marks on all four sides and a shallow draw in the upper right corner (viewer's right). Canvas slubs are visible underneath the paint layer, they appear as small bulges. The ground and paint layers are secure, although fine cracks are visible in many areas. An old scratch/gouge is visible (under magnification) in the blue area above the center of the flower. The colors remain bright and the surface appears clean, save for a few very small accretions.

A backing board of corrugated, acid-free cardboard is fastened to the back of the stretcher. A Tycore insert is attached to the front of the board and set into the void of the stretcher to reduce vibration and to act as a buffer against changes in RH.

REPORT NOTES

Published with corresponding artwork entry in Georgia O’Keeffe: Catalogue Raisonné (Lynes, 1999), this historical conservation information documents treatment decisions made during the artist’s lifetime. Lynes quotes information found on backing labels, and, when noted, from other sources.

CONDITION NARRATIVE

"This painting has been varnished" (Doris Bry typed).