In this example we find an enlarged flower head with a stem visible in the bottom left, and further leaves placed behind. There is a calming atmosphere to this painting, and whilst enlarged, we can still understand what we are looking at straight away. In other cases, the flowers would be so detailed that we would actually need to take a step back in order to understand the perspective with which we were not familiar. Tones are limited here, with the flower in white, with shades for shadow. Even the green leaves at the back are subdued in order to avoid taking one's focus away from the key element of the painting. O'Keeffe would depict the calico flower several times and also captured other white flowers from time to time, such as the Jimson Weed.
Whilst this simpler colour tone seemed to be a favourite of hers, she would go onto capture many other types of flowers and plants within her career. Some would be grown in her garden for this very purpose, whilst other species would be brought in from local florists. She couldn't always plan ahead of her whims, and also some flowers were simply too hard to grow for an amateur gardener with limited experience and space. In all, she produced a good number of flower paintings within her career, offering a wide selection of species to pick from and these have been particularly popular choices as art prints from those with the necessary permissions to provide reproductions of her work.
This artwork is believed to be in the collection of the the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, which is an impressive art institution that is well worth visiting for those in the area. The piece itself is sized at 30 inches wide by 36 inches tall and is amongst a number of artworks from this artist to be found there. Additionally, they also hold a number of other significant items to enjoy, such as New York Interior by Edward Hopper, Dempsey and Firpo by George Bellows, as well as others by the likes of Rothko, Pollock and Newman. In all, there are thousands of items to enjoy here and they will also run exhibitions from time to time to being a particular focus onto an artist's work.
