Ghost Ranch was Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico ranch retreat near Abiquiú.
O’Keeffe began visiting the area in 1935 and was captivated by its multicolored cliffs, broad skies, and isolated geological formations. She rented a house at Ghost Ranch and used the surrounding terrain as a major source of imagery. The region’s cliffs and hills appear in many works from her mature New Mexico period.
Ghost Ranch and O’Keeffe’s Abiquiú home are related but not interchangeable. Ghost Ranch was a large rural landscape and retreat, while the Abiquiú property was the adobe house and studio she eventually restored and occupied. The dramatic landscape around Ghost Ranch helped define the simplified forms and strong horizontal compositions associated with her New Mexico paintings. The ranch remains a well-known destination in northern New Mexico.