Ghost Ranch became a major source of subject matter for Georgia O'Keeffe. The dramatic landscape in northern New Mexico supplied cliffs, hills, bones, trees, and changing light for many of her paintings.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1929 and returned repeatedly during the following years. She later lived in Abiquiú and spent time at Ghost Ranch, whose red and yellow cliffs became recognizable elements in her work. She once described a particular place at Ghost Ranch as her private mountain.
Ghost Ranch is often confused with Abiquiú, the nearby community where O'Keeffe had a home. They are related but distinct places. O'Keeffe's New Mexico paintings were not simple travel illustrations: she selected and reworked forms to explore shape, color, scale, and the experience of looking closely at a landscape.