Georgia O'Keeffe moved permanently to New Mexico in 1949.
She had first traveled to New Mexico in 1917 and returned regularly from the late 1920s onward. The region's cliffs, bones, churches, roads, and desert plants became central subjects in her art, but she continued to maintain a strong connection with New York while Alfred Stieglitz was alive.
After Stieglitz died in 1946, O'Keeffe began arranging her life around New Mexico. In 1949 she moved there permanently, dividing her time between Ghost Ranch and her Abiquiu home. This was not the beginning of her interest in the Southwest; it marked the point when the region became her primary base.
The year 1934 is often confused with 1949 because 1934 was the year of her first visit to Ghost Ranch. Her move also predates her later years in Santa Fe, where she died in 1986.