Georgia O'Keeffe often painted Ghost Ranch after discovering it in 1934.
Ghost Ranch is a dramatic retreat and educational center near Abiquiú in northern New Mexico. O'Keeffe first visited the area in 1934 and soon began returning regularly. Its multicolored cliffs, open valleys, and distinctive geological formations became recurring subjects in her paintings.
She rented a house at Ghost Ranch for many years and later maintained a separate home in nearby Abiquiú. The two locations are related but not identical, a distinction that is sometimes overlooked in accounts of her New Mexico years.
O'Keeffe's paintings of the region frequently simplify the landscape into bold shapes and large areas of color. The famous red-and-yellow cliffs were not merely background scenery; they became recognizable visual structures within her individual interpretation of the Southwest.