New Mexico became Georgia O'Keeffe's main artistic home from the 1920s onward.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917 and returned regularly during the 1920s. Its stark desert, mountains, adobe buildings, animal bones, and intense light supplied subjects that differed sharply from the urban imagery of New York. She eventually divided her time between New York and New Mexico before settling permanently in the Southwest.
The state is closely associated with places such as Ghost Ranch and Abiquiú, where O'Keeffe maintained homes and studios. Her New Mexico paintings are not simple travel records: she simplified forms and used bold color and unusual cropping to create highly personal compositions. Arizona and Colorado also have prominent southwestern landscapes, but they are not the state most directly identified with O'Keeffe's career.