Lowell Nesbitt’s colossal Iris encourages the viewer to explore intimately a subject which is diminutive, almost as if examining it through a microscope. Combining photorealistic imagery with a Pop Art monumentality, Iris Tondo is representative of the oeuvre which made Nesbitt famous; though he painted a variety of subjects, his large-scale, highly realistic paintings of flowers gained him popularity with the general public. However, Nesbitt rejected the Photorealist categorization, stating, “I think of myself less as a realist and more as a painter,” a statement which responds to critics of the hyperrealist movement who denounced the style as pure copy.