What was the title of O’Keeffe’s 1929 painting featuring a cow’s skull?

Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1929 painting featuring a cow’s skull is titled Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue.

The painting presents a bleached cow skull against a stark background, with the skull’s form emphasized through careful placement and simplified color. O’Keeffe began collecting bones and other objects she found in the New Mexico landscape, later using them as subjects in paintings and drawings.

The title’s colors refer to the American flag and give the work a national association, while the skull itself reflects O’Keeffe’s interest in desert remains and enduring natural forms. The image is not simply a documentary record of a found object; its scale, composition, and isolation turn it into a highly controlled modernist design.

O’Keeffe made several other famous bone paintings, including Ram’s Head, White Hollyhock-Hills and Pelvis series works. Those titles are related but identify different subjects and compositions.