Georgia O'Keeffe found major inspiration in New Mexico after first visiting the state in 1929.
She traveled to New Mexico during the summer of 1929 and was struck by its dramatic landscapes, adobe buildings, bones, crosses, and intense light. The region became a central subject of her art, replacing the urban and floral themes that had dominated much of her earlier career.
O'Keeffe returned repeatedly and eventually made New Mexico her permanent home. She lived and worked at Ghost Ranch and later in the village of Abiquiú. Paintings such as those featuring the landscape around Cerro Pedernal show how strongly the state shaped her visual vocabulary.
New Mexico is sometimes confused with Arizona because both states are associated with the desert Southwest. O'Keeffe painted in both broad Southwestern traditions, but her homes and most famous personal landscapes were specifically in New Mexico. She died in Santa Fe in 1986.