Georgia O'Keeffe Black Iris  Black Iris, 1926 This monumental flower painting is one of O'Keeffe's masterpieces. Using  colors that are subtly graded from impenetrable black-purple and deep  maroon to soft pinks, grays, and whites, she captures the ephemeral  quality of this springtime bloom. By enlarging the petals to  over-lifesize proportions, O'Keeffe forces the viewer to confront what  might otherwise be overlooked and, in turn, elevates the ordinary to the  extraordinary. When her magnified flowers were first shown in 1924,  even Stieglitz was shocked by their audacity. Critics saw sexual content  in their delicate contours, organic forms, and lush surfaces, even  though the artist always denied such associations. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/69.278.1