Georgia O'Keeffe repeatedly painted Cerro Pedernal, a flat-topped mountain in northern New Mexico, and her ashes were scattered from its summit after her death. The distinctive mesa became one of the most recognizable recurring subjects in her New Mexico work.
O'Keeffe viewed the mountain from the area around her homes and studios and returned to its profile in paintings made from different distances and viewpoints. Its isolated shape allowed her to explore repetition, simplified geometry, and the relationship between a particular place and an abstract image.
Cerro Pedernal is sometimes confused with other famous New Mexico landmarks that appear in O'Keeffe's art, including cliffs and ranch buildings. It is a specific mesa in the Jemez Mountains, not a general name for the surrounding landscape. O'Keeffe's ashes were scattered there in accordance with her wishes.