What name did Georgia O'Keeffe give to the white cliffs near Ghost Ranch in New Mexico?

Georgia O'Keeffe called the white cliffs near Ghost Ranch in New Mexico “The White Place.”

O'Keeffe began visiting northern New Mexico in the 1930s and repeatedly painted its dramatic landscapes. The pale cliffs near Ghost Ranch became one of her recurring subjects. She contrasted them with another nearby landscape she called “The Black Place,” showing how strongly she responded to the visual character of particular sites.

The White Place is associated with the area now known as Plaza Blanca, near Abiquiú. O'Keeffe valued the region’s bones, hills, cliffs, and open skies, and she often transformed recognizable locations into simplified, highly structured compositions rather than making conventional topographical views.

Her use of personal names for landscapes can cause confusion because some sites have official geographic names and others are identified through her own descriptions. “The White Place” is O'Keeffe’s name for the pale cliff formation, not the name of her Abiquiú house or Ghost Ranch itself.