Georgia O'Keeffe became especially associated with New Mexico after moving there permanently in 1949.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1929 and returned repeatedly over the following decades. She was drawn to its bright skies, desert terrain, adobe buildings, bones, and distinctive geological formations. These subjects became central to some of her best-known paintings.
After the death of her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, in 1946, O'Keeffe moved permanently to New Mexico in 1949. She divided much of her time between Abiquiú and Ghost Ranch, later making Abiquiú her principal home.
The state is sometimes confused with Arizona because both are associated with the American Southwest and desert scenery. O'Keeffe's New Mexico paintings are not simply generic Southwestern images: many depict specific places, including the cliffs and hills near Ghost Ranch and the road leading to her Abiquiú house.