Ghost Ranch became closely associated with Georgia O'Keeffe’s home and paintings. The dramatic desert area lies near Abiquiú in northern New Mexico and is known for multicolored cliffs, mesas, and open high-desert views.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917 and returned repeatedly. She began spending extended periods there in the late 1920s, eventually establishing a house and studio at Abiquiú while also working at Ghost Ranch.
The landscape supplied subjects for many of her paintings, including cliffs, bones, roads, and broad areas of sky. Her images were not simply topographical records; she selected and enlarged forms to create powerful compositions.
Ghost Ranch is sometimes conflated with Abiquiú, but they are distinct places. Abiquiú became O'Keeffe’s principal residence, while Ghost Ranch was a nearby landscape and seasonal base that appears repeatedly in accounts of her New Mexico years.