What is the title of Georgia O'Keeffe's 1931 painting of a cow skull with an American flag-like palette?

Georgia O'Keeffe's 1931 painting is titled Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue. It shows a weathered cow skull suspended against a largely empty background, with red, white, and blue colors that evoke the United States.

O'Keeffe encountered animal bones and other objects in the arid landscapes of New Mexico. She collected bones during walks and treated them as subjects worthy of close, monumental attention. Their bleached surfaces and strong contours became recurring elements in her work.

The painting belongs to a period when O'Keeffe transformed southwestern materials into modernist images rather than presenting them as ordinary documentary objects. The skull can suggest endurance, landscape, national symbolism, or mortality, but the work does not require one fixed interpretation.

It is often grouped with her New Mexico paintings, although the composition focuses on an object rather than a recognizable settlement or mountain view. That distinction helps separate it from her architectural and landscape scenes.