Georgia O'Keeffe first visited Ghost Ranch in 1934 and later painted it extensively.
Ghost Ranch is a dramatic area near Abiquiu in northern New Mexico, known for colorful cliffs, mesas, and wide desert horizons. O'Keeffe encountered the property during a period when New Mexico had already become an important source of inspiration. Its distinctive formations provided recurring subjects for paintings and drawings.
She rented a house at Ghost Ranch beginning in 1936 and spent part of many summers there. The area's landscape appears in works such as paintings of the cliffs and hills around her home. O'Keeffe also collected bones and other objects found in the region, transforming them into precise, monumental images.
Ghost Ranch is sometimes confused with O'Keeffe's Abiquiu home. They were separate places, though both were in the same broad northern New Mexico region. Her Abiquiu house, acquired later, became another major base and is especially associated with a distinctive door that she painted repeatedly.