Ghost Ranch was the New Mexico location Georgia O'Keeffe used as a major source of artistic subjects.
The retreat lies near Abiquiu in northern New Mexico, among dramatic cliffs, mesas, and desert formations. O'Keeffe began spending time there in the 1930s, and the landscape became one of the most recognizable settings in her paintings.
She described Ghost Ranch as her “faraway” place and painted its cliffs, hills, roads, bones, and sky repeatedly. The site offered broad views and strong geological shapes that suited her practice of simplifying and enlarging forms. Paintings associated with the area helped define the public image of her Southwestern work.
Ghost Ranch is not the same as O'Keeffe's Abiquiu house. She lived and worked in both places, but the ranch was a larger landscape environment, while the Abiquiu property was a village home and studio. Ghost Ranch is now operated as an education and retreat center by the Presbyterian Church.