Georgia O'Keeffe repeatedly painted Cerro Pedernal as a distant triangular mountain.
Cerro Pedernal is a flat-topped volcanic mesa in northern New Mexico. It stood near O'Keeffe's homes and became one of the most recognizable landscape forms in her work. She painted it from different viewpoints and in changing colors, reducing the mountain to a powerful geometric presence.
O'Keeffe was especially attached to the landmark. She reportedly described it as her private mountain and said she wanted it after death, a wish fulfilled when her ashes were scattered from its summit. The mountain therefore connects her landscape paintings with her personal relationship to the New Mexico environment.
Cerro Pedernal is sometimes confused with other famous New Mexico formations, including Shiprock and the cliffs around Ghost Ranch. Its association with O'Keeffe comes from the repeated triangular profile and its location in the Abiquiú region.