What subject did Georgia O'Keeffe paint in her 1929 work Black Cross, New Mexico?

Georgia O'Keeffe’s 1929 work Black Cross, New Mexico depicts a black cross.

The painting presents a stark black cross against the expansive New Mexico landscape. O'Keeffe encountered crosses and other religious markers along rural roads, and she transformed this simple roadside form into a monumental, highly structured composition.

Black Cross, New Mexico belongs to the body of work inspired by O'Keeffe’s early visits to the Southwest. Its strong contrast and simplified geometry show how she could turn a familiar object into an image of abstraction and scale.

The title is sometimes confused with O'Keeffe’s many paintings of bones, especially her cow-skull works. Those paintings use animal remains as central subjects, whereas Black Cross, New Mexico focuses on a roadside religious symbol set within the desert environment.