Two Calla Lilies on Pink, 1928 by Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe once remarked, "What is my experience of the flower if not color?" This painting of two calla lilies is an extraordinary example of her floral compositions, made of sweeping, broad waves of subtly blended hues. The white petals, highlighted in green, are arranged against a pink backdrop, and from each one emerges a bright yellow pistil. Many have interpreted O'Keeffe's depictions of floral anatomy in relation to sexuality and gender, but the artist always resisted these interpretations, considering them too specific and limiting.

Georgia O'Keeffe once remarked, "What is my experience of the flower if not color?" This large-scale image of two calla lilies, made of broad, sweeping waves of subtly blended hues, is an extraordinary example of her floral paintings. The white petals, highlighted in green and penetrated by two bright yellow pistils, reach upward against a pink backdrop, set off by the dark green stems on the bottom left. The artist's abstracted floral studies from the 1920s and 1930s have strong sexual overtones, although she denied that this was her intention.