Georgia O'Keeffe famously painted animal skulls, including the cow skull in Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue.
O'Keeffe began making paintings of bones and skulls after collecting bleached remains in the New Mexico landscape. She treated these objects as powerful formal subjects, emphasizing their curves, openings, textures, and stark contrast against skies or flat backgrounds.
Her skull paintings include Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue, painted in 1931, as well as works featuring horse skulls and other bones. The objects became associated with her interpretation of the American Southwest rather than with conventional still-life arrangements.
A common misunderstanding is that every skull in her work was a human skull. Many of the best-known examples are animal remains, especially cow and horse skulls. O'Keeffe also painted flowers, buildings, clouds, and landscapes throughout her career.