Ghost Ranch became Georgia O'Keeffe's home and a recurring subject in her art.
O'Keeffe first visited the area near Abiquiu, New Mexico, in 1934 and began spending increasing amounts of time there. The dramatic cliffs, arroyos, mesas, and intense colors offered a landscape very different from the urban settings of her earlier New York work.
She painted the surrounding country repeatedly, including formations such as the cliffs known as the Pedernal landscape. O'Keeffe also maintained a separate home and studio in the village of Abiquiu, where she later lived year-round. Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu are related but distinct places, a common source of confusion.
Her New Mexico paintings did not simply record scenery. She selected, enlarged, cropped, and simplified natural forms, transforming local geography into highly recognizable modernist compositions. The region became inseparable from the public image of her later career.