Ghost Ranch became one of Georgia O'Keeffe's homes and a recurring subject in her paintings.
Ghost Ranch is a retreat and education center near Abiquiú in northern New Mexico. O'Keeffe began visiting the area in the 1930s and rented a house there before later acquiring property in nearby Abiquiú.
The surrounding landscape offered cliffs, mesas, arroyos, and vivid changes of light. O'Keeffe painted these forms repeatedly, sometimes reducing them to strongly colored, simplified compositions. The area around Ghost Ranch is particularly associated with the red cliffs and broad, open spaces visible in her New Mexico work.
Taos is another important New Mexico art center, but it was not O'Keeffe's principal ranch home. Ghost Ranch remains closely linked to her biography because it was both a place where she lived and a source of subjects that became central to her mature style.