Which New Mexico site did Georgia O’Keeffe buy in 1940 and frequently paint?

Georgia O’Keeffe bought a house at Ghost Ranch in 1940 and frequently painted the site.

Ghost Ranch is a dramatic area near Abiquiú in northern New Mexico, known for multicolored cliffs, mesas, and broad high-desert views. O’Keeffe first encountered the area during her repeated New Mexico travels and became especially attached to its distinctive landscape. She purchased a house there in 1940 and used it as a seasonal home and studio.

The surrounding forms appear in numerous paintings, including works based on the nearby cliffs and the large mesa she called the “Black Place.” O’Keeffe did not simply copy scenery; she cropped, simplified, and rearranged the land to emphasize shape, color, and visual structure.

Ghost Ranch is sometimes confused with O’Keeffe’s separate home in the village of Abiquiú. Both places were important to her, but they were different properties. Ghost Ranch was her remote desert retreat, while the Abiquiú house became her principal residence and studio in later life.