Ghost Ranch became one of Georgia O'Keeffe's most important New Mexico landscapes.
The ranch is a dramatic retreat near Abiquiú in northern New Mexico, known for red cliffs, broad valleys, and desert light. O'Keeffe began visiting the area in the 1930s and found subjects there that she returned to repeatedly. She later maintained a house at Ghost Ranch, while also owning and restoring a home in Abiquiú.
O'Keeffe painted formations around the ranch in simplified, intensely colored compositions. A prominent cliff formation known as Pedernal became especially recognizable in her work. She once described the mountain as her private mountain, saying that God had told her she could have it if she painted it often enough.
Ghost Ranch is sometimes confused with the D.H. Lawrence Ranch because both are connected with artists and northern New Mexico. They are different properties. The ranch also has a history predating O'Keeffe, including cattle operations and the activities of the archaeologist and writer Arthur Pack, who developed it as a retreat and educational center.