New Mexico inspired Georgia O'Keeffe after she began spending summers there in 1929.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917, but her sustained pattern of spending summers there began in 1929. She was drawn to the region's desert landscapes, mountains, adobe buildings, animal bones, and intense light. These subjects became central to the visual language associated with her mature work.
She initially traveled from New York with the photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz. During repeated visits, she developed a deep attachment to northern New Mexico and found subjects that differed sharply from the urban and lake landscapes of her earlier career. Her paintings of the area helped shape popular ideas about Southwestern modernism.
New Mexico is sometimes confused with Arizona because both states contain desert scenery and are associated with Southwestern art. O'Keeffe's best-known homes and many signature subjects, however, were in New Mexico, especially around Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch.