Ghost Ranch inspired many of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings of cliffs and vast skies.
Ghost Ranch is a landscape and retreat area in northern New Mexico, near Abiquiú. O'Keeffe began visiting the area in the 1930s and found its red cliffs, arid terrain, and expansive sky especially compelling.
She repeatedly painted a distinctive formation at Ghost Ranch that she called the Black Place. Her compositions often crop or simplify the land, turning recognizable geological forms into bold arrangements of color and shape.
Ghost Ranch is sometimes confused with Taos, another New Mexico art center. O'Keeffe did visit and work in northern New Mexico broadly, but Ghost Ranch is the specific location associated with the dramatic cliffs and landscapes that recur throughout her work.