New Mexico is the U.S. state most closely associated with Georgia O'Keeffe’s later landscapes and bones paintings.
O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917 and returned repeatedly before moving there permanently in 1949. She was drawn to the region’s intense light, adobe architecture, mountains, desert terrain, and animal bones. These subjects became central to her visual vocabulary.
She lived and worked at several New Mexico locations, including Abiquiú and Ghost Ranch. Her paintings of the landscape often transform recognizable places into simplified, monumental forms rather than providing straightforward topographical views.
O'Keeffe’s connection with New Mexico is sometimes reduced to a single style or subject. In fact, her career also included New York skyscrapers, abstract drawings, flowers, and Texas landscapes. New Mexico became her long-term home and the setting most identified with her mature work.