White Iris (Primary Title)
Georgia O'Keeffe, American, 1887 - 1986 (Artist)
Georgia O’Keeffe’s personally expressive imagery was fundamentally rooted in nature, and flowers remained a favorite subject throughout her career. White Iris may be considered a transitional work—echoing the voluptuous florals of the 1920s that first established her reputation while anticipating her more muscular southwestern imagery that flourished after she began spending increased time in New Mexico a decade later.
The flower’s elegantly sensuous curves and subtle pastel hues distinguish it from O’Keeffe’s series of black irises painted in the late 1920s, works that flirted with a greater degree of abstraction. Such images were championed and promoted by O’Keeffe’s dealer and husband, Alfred Stieglitz, as revealing a new “natural feminine essence”—an interpretation that defined O’Keeffe’s art throughout her life, but onethat she never fully embraced.
"Georgia O'Keeffe: The Painter's Lens", Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, April 20 - August 8, 2021; Musée nationaul d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, September 8 - December 6, 2021; Fondation Beyeler, Riehan/Basel, Switzerland, January 23 - May 22, 2022
"The Beyond: Georgia O'Keeffe and Contemporary Art", North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, October 13, 2018 - January 20, 2019; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, February 22 - June 2, 2019.
"Georgia O’Keeffe," Tate Modern, London, July 6 – October 30, 2016
"Georgia O'Keeffe," Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France, November 7, 2015 - February 7, 2016
"Debating American Modernism: Stieglitz, Duchamp, and the New York Avant-Garde," Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, Jan. 24 - April 20, 2003; Des Moines Art Center, May 9 - Aug. 1, 2003; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Aug. 29 - Nov. 30, 2003
"O'Keeffe and Texas," The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, January 27 - April 5, 1998
"The Common Wealth," The Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts, December 1, 1990 - February 3, 1991
"Georgia O'Keeffe: Works from Southern Collections," Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA, September 9 - October 20, 1985
"Georgia O'Keeffe," Carolina Art Association, Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, SC, February 7, 1955 - March 5, 1955, no. 1
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1944
"Georgia O'Keeffe: 33 New Paintings," An American American Place, New York, NY, December 27, 1931 - February 11, 1932, no. 14
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.