Which painting by Georgia O'Keeffe shows a white skull with red hills and dates from 1935?
Answer
Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills
Answer
Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills
Georgia O'Keeffe's 1935 painting showing a white skull with red hills is Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills. It combines a bleached animal skull, a white hollyhock, and a New Mexico landscape.
O'Keeffe began collecting bones and other objects she found in the New Mexico desert. She used these forms repeatedly, not simply as documentary objects but as powerful shapes that could be isolated, enlarged, and placed against broad expanses of sky or landscape.
The painting belongs to a group of works inspired by the region around Ghost Ranch and Abiquiú. Its title identifies both the ram's skull and the distant hills, while the hollyhock adds a contrasting living form.
The work is often discussed alongside O'Keeffe's other skull paintings, including Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue. Those titles refer to different compositions, so the skull, flower, and hills in this question identify the 1935 painting specifically.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026