Morning Glory with Black

Morning Glory with Black is an oil on canvas painting created by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1926. This period marks O’Keeffe’s pivotal exploration of monumental floral forms, where she often cropped natural subjects to fill the entirety of the canvas, transforming familiar details into near-abstract compositions of color and light.

In this specific work, O'Keeffe focuses intensely on the delicate, trumpet-like structure of the morning glory flower. The vibrant purples, pinks, and whites of the bloom dominate the foreground, utilizing soft gradations of hue to suggest three-dimensional form. These bright colors are juxtaposed dramatically against deep, velvety passages of black, a high-contrast technique that emphasizes the flower's undulating edges and deep central throat. The extreme scale and close perspective challenge traditional representation, suggesting a formal analysis of line and structure rather than simple botanical illustration.

O’Keeffe’s artistic approach was foundational to Modernism in the United States, defining a new visual vocabulary that transcended traditional realism. Her flower paintings were instrumental in establishing her reputation, forcing busy viewers to truly see the often-overlooked beauty of a singular object. The mastery evident in this painting ensures its lasting appeal to scholars and the general public alike. This important canvas from 1926 is housed in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, preserving a key example of the artist's enduring vision.