Georgia O'Keeffe painted a cow’s skull in the 1931 series “Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue.” The work places a weathered bovine skull against a bold American red, white, and blue background.
O'Keeffe found animal bones in the New Mexico landscape and used them as recurring subjects. Their bleached surfaces, strong contours, and associations with the desert offered her an alternative to the flowers and buildings she also painted.
The skull’s frontal shape and stark color arrangement create a powerful image that has often been linked to American identity and the Southwestern environment. O'Keeffe, however, emphasized her direct visual response rather than a single required interpretation.
The object is specifically a cow’s skull, not a buffalo skull. That distinction matters because O'Keeffe painted several kinds of bones, while this title identifies the animal and the patriotic color scheme clearly.