Georgia O'Keeffe found the desert landscapes that shaped much of her later art in New Mexico.
She first visited New Mexico in 1917 and returned regularly during the 1920s. The state’s mountains, desert, adobe buildings, bones, and intense light became central subjects in her paintings. In 1949, three years after Alfred Stieglitz’s death, she moved permanently to New Mexico.
O'Keeffe lived and worked at Abiquiu and spent time at Ghost Ranch, north of Santa Fe. She often painted the same views repeatedly, changing scale, color, and composition rather than treating the landscape as a single documentary scene. The state became closely identified with her artistic persona.
Arizona is a frequent alternative answer because it also has dramatic desert scenery and a major role in Southwestern art. O'Keeffe’s distinctive adobe walls, mountain views, and desert-bone imagery, however, are most strongly associated with New Mexico.