Ghost Ranch became a major subject for Georgia O'Keeffe after her first visit there in 1934.
O'Keeffe encountered Ghost Ranch, in northern New Mexico near Abiquiú, during a period when she was increasingly drawn to the region's stark geology. She repeatedly painted its cliffs, hills, bones, and broad skies. The area's red and yellow formations supplied a distinctive visual vocabulary that became closely associated with her New Mexico work.
She eventually acquired a house at Ghost Ranch and used it as a retreat and studio. Her separate adobe home in nearby Abiquiú became another important base. These two places are related but not interchangeable: Ghost Ranch is the large landscape and retreat area, while Abiquiú is the village where O'Keeffe restored a historic house.
The landscape's name also causes confusion because “Ghost Ranch” can refer both to the wider property and to the dramatic scenery represented in O'Keeffe's paintings.