New Mexico became Georgia O'Keeffe's main artistic home from the late 1940s onward.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1929 and returned repeatedly, drawn to its clear light, adobe architecture, desert terrain, bones, and dramatic mountains. After Alfred Stieglitz died in 1946, she moved permanently from New York to New Mexico in 1949.
She lived and worked at places including Abiquiú and Ghost Ranch. The state's landscapes became central subjects in her paintings, although she continued to revisit motifs such as flowers, shells, and abstract forms. Her New Mexico work helped define the public image of the American Southwest in modern art.
New Mexico is not merely the location of her later museum. It was the setting that shaped a major period of her artistic practice. Her former home and studio in Abiquiú are preserved as a National Trust for Historic Preservation site.