Ghost Ranch became a major subject of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings in New Mexico.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917 and returned regularly during the 1920s. She was drawn to the region's intense light, cliffs, bones, adobe buildings, and wide spaces. Ghost Ranch, north of Abiquiú, became especially important after she began spending extended periods there in the 1930s.
She painted the area's dramatic red and yellow formations repeatedly, often simplifying them into powerful shapes rather than making conventional topographical views. Works associated with the area include paintings of cliffs, ranch buildings, and the nearby Cerro Pedernal. O'Keeffe famously described the ranch as a place where she felt at home.
Ghost Ranch is not the same place as O'Keeffe's Abiquiú home, although both are in northern New Mexico and are closely connected with her life. Ghost Ranch is now an education and retreat center operated by the Presbyterian Church. Its landscapes remain central to public understanding of O'Keeffe's relationship with the American Southwest.