Georgia O'Keeffe spent much of her later life in New Mexico.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1929 and returned regularly before moving there permanently in 1949. The region's stark landscapes, adobe buildings, bones, flowers, and changing light became central subjects in her work.
She lived and worked at Ghost Ranch, near Abiquiú, and later maintained a home in the village itself. Paintings such as Ram's Head, White Hollyhock—Hills and Black Place, New Mexico show how she transformed local scenery into simplified, highly recognizable compositions.
New Mexico is sometimes treated as merely a backdrop to O'Keeffe's career, but it was a sustained source of artistic ideas and daily observation. She had already established herself in New York before moving west. Her New Mexico paintings therefore represent a major mature period, not the beginning of her artistic career.