Georgia O'Keeffe's Pelvis series was inspired by animal pelvic bones found in New Mexico.
O'Keeffe began the Pelvis series in the 1940s, using the openings and curved structures of animal bones as subjects. The bones were not merely archaeological objects; she treated them as forms through which the sky, light, and surrounding landscape could be seen.
Her New Mexico paintings frequently combine found bones with a stark desert setting. The Pelvis series therefore connects anatomy, landscape, and abstraction without being a scientific study of human anatomy. The bones were animal bones, an important distinction when the works are described casually as skeleton paintings.
O'Keeffe had moved permanently to New Mexico in 1949, but her interest in bones and other desert objects began during earlier visits. The series belongs to the mature phase of her career and sits alongside her paintings of hills, crosses, adobe buildings, and flowers.