O'Keeffe said that she made the paintings to reflect the way she herself saw flowers, although others have called her depictions erotic, and compared them to female genitalia.

[3] She became interested in brilliant colors and billowy petals of the canna lilies when she visited Lake George, New York in 1918 with Alfred Stieglitz.

[4] The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts states that "In these extreme close-ups she established a new kind of modern still life with no references to atmospheric effects or realistic details, reflecting her statement, 'I paint because color is significant.

[11] It is a depiction of the large petals of the exterior of the flower, with focus on the interior through the use of contrasting shades of colors.

[13] Abstraction so close up—one is immersed reds swelling from whites to pinks soft velvet reds bleed into liquid rubies teasing like a swirling skirt softly blowing in the breeze—morning sunlight looking through the vibrant blood of life awakening the morning light sun parting vibrations of pounding hearts The version made in 1923 is an oil painting of a red canna lily against a yellow background.

[15] The 1924 painting, a close-up of the flower with streaks of light blue and gray,[16] immerses the viewer in the blossom, and is meant to convey the way that O'Keeffe experiences it.

[19][20] In 1927, O'Keeffe made a painting of a close-up of the wide red petals of the canna lily.

Once among private collections, it is now owned by Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.