Georgia O'Keeffe made many paintings in New Mexico after moving there permanently in 1949.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1929 and returned regularly during the following decades. She was drawn to the state's cliffs, deserts, adobe buildings, bones, flowers, and intense light. These subjects became central to her mature style and public identity.
After Alfred Stieglitz died in 1946, O'Keeffe moved permanently from New York to New Mexico in 1949. She lived and worked at two important homes: a house in Abiquiú and a studio at Ghost Ranch. The landscapes around both places supplied recurring motifs, but she did not simply paint literal travel views; she selected and enlarged forms to create highly controlled compositions.
New Mexico is sometimes confused with Arizona because both states are associated with the American Southwest. O'Keeffe's most famous Southwestern homes and studios, however, were in New Mexico, where she remained active until declining eyesight limited her painting.