Ghost Ranch inspired Georgia O'Keeffe's painting series of red hills and cliffs.
Ghost Ranch is a dramatic landscape in northern New Mexico, near Abiquiú, with multicolored cliffs, mesas, and expansive skies. O'Keeffe first visited the area in 1934 and returned repeatedly. Its geological forms became central subjects in paintings such as Red Hills with Pedernal and other works featuring the region's vivid terrain.
O'Keeffe was drawn to isolated natural forms and often reduced them to powerful shapes. Ghost Ranch gave her a landscape far removed from the urban environments of New York. She later described the area as a place where she felt at home and maintained a house nearby at Abiquiú.
Ghost Ranch is sometimes treated as interchangeable with Abiquiú, but they are distinct locations. Abiquiú is the nearby village and the site of O'Keeffe's famous home and studio; Ghost Ranch is the larger landscape and retreat area to the north. Both became important in her New Mexico life.