Georgia O’Keeffe began painting Ghost Ranch after discovering the New Mexico location in 1934.
Ghost Ranch, near Abiquiú, is known for dramatic cliffs, mesas, and brightly colored geological formations. O’Keeffe first visited the area in 1934 and returned repeatedly, making its landscape one of the defining subjects of her later career.
She is closely associated with both Ghost Ranch and the nearby village of Abiquiú, but they are not the same place. Ghost Ranch supplied the remote landscapes and geological forms seen in many paintings, while O’Keeffe’s Abiquiú home and studio became her more settled base. This distinction helps prevent the two New Mexico locations from being treated as interchangeable.