Georgia O’Keeffe: Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

Ghost Ranch & Georgia O’Keeffe

22 March 2024

This blog shares highlights of my long-anticipated visit to the life and art of Georgia O’Keeffe at Ghost Ranch in the spring of 2024.

Ghost Ranch is . . .

… a 21,000-acre Education & Retreat Center in north central New Mexico where history and spirituality intersect – and I might add, art! It is 65 miles northwest of Santa Fe and 14 miles from Abiquiu, the nearest community and winter home of Georgia O’Keeffe. Today Ghost Ranch is owned by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and leased and managed by The National Ghost Ranch Foundation, Inc. O’Keeffe’s summer home is a on small parcel of land on the ranch (more below).

Ghost Ranch provides . . .

. . . archaeological digs, hiking, horseback riding – and tours to sites of O’Keeffe’s paintings. Horse rental with guides is available on site. In fact, horses in paddocks and corrals greet visitors at the entrance. Reservations are recommended. For those interested in archeological digs, there is a remarkable concentration of fossils. On-site museums – the Museum of Anthropology and the Museum of Paleontology – showcase these discoveries. The theropod dinosaur Coelophysis is it most notable.

Ghost Ranch was . . .

. . . the summer home and studio of American abstract artist Georgia O’Keeffe for much of the 20th century. It was the subject of many of her paintings. In fact, the landscape of Ghost Ranch was made famous by O’Keeffe.

For me, O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch was the primary reason for my visit.

Who is Georgia O’Keeffe?

Georgia O’Keeffe is a 20th century American, female, abstract artist. Those four distinctions say a lot. American artists were just coming into their own amidst the influential 19th century, established European art world. Female artists were a rarity; they were expected to teach, not DO art. And at a time when Realism and Impressionism were at their height, Abstraction was not only new, but highly controversial in the early 20th century art world. This is the world in which Georgia O’Keeffe entered and conquered – Female, American, Abstract, in a New Century of art.

Georgia O’Keeffe is one of my favorite modern artists. I enjoy her style overall and especially her paintings of large, abstract flowers. As an educator of both art history and 2D design, her works and her life are highly inspirational. It has been my long-time desire to make a pilgrimage to her home turf in New Mexico and experience the scenes she painted! That dream became reality in spring 2024.

O’Keeffe Bio

For an IN-DEPTH BIOGRAPHY on the life and art of one of my favorite artists, check out my post on the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

My Georgia O’Keeffe Pilgrimage in 3 Parts!

This is one of a three-part blog which focuses on my quest to embrace Georgia O’Keeffe in her favorite place on earth: north central New Mexico. There is a portion of her and her art in each of the posts.

• Georgia O’Keeffe at Ghost Ranch – this blog
• The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Includes a detailed Bio on O’Keeffe.
• Georgia O’Keeffe’s Home in Abiquiu, New Mexico (coming soon)

O’Keeffe & Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock stands tall and stately above the Ghost Ranch landscape. An easily recognizable landmark, it is the destination for both hikers and horsemen – and O’Keeffe fans!. It is one of O’Keeffe’s favorite themes. (Its location on the ranch can be seen in the Ghost Ranch Map at the end of this post.)

Towering rock walls and vast skies of Ghost Ranch provide a place for exploration, rejuvenation – and for O’Keeffe: a place of endless inspiration.

During our drive and hikes around the area, we could easily understand O’Keeffe’s intoxication with the breathtaking red and yellow cliffs that surround Ghost Ranch.

For me, as with O’Keeffe, the landscape came alive with the vibrant ever-changing colors.

The highlight of Ghost Ranch, for me, was that I was able to delve into the world of visionary artist, Georgia O’Keeffe.

In this captivating landscape, she found solace and inspiration. It was here that O’Keeffe had the freedom to paint what she saw – and felt. The vivid landscapes, iconic landmarks, the red and gray hills extend as far as the eye can see.

O’Keeffe & Pedernal

Her favorite – the majestic and magical Pedernal mountain – continues to mesmerize and invite visitors like me!

In the beginning, O’Keeffe spent many years as a visitor to the area. She eventually settled and built a home at Ghost Ranch. This isolated location provided her with the solitude she sought, the open sky and the ever-changing subject matter.

One such subject was the imposing view out her front door of Cerro Pedernal (Flint Mountain). Pueblos, Indigenous and Hispano communities had for thousands of years held it a sacred and significant site. O’Keeffe fell in love at first sight!

Pedernal came into view as we drove on the dusty dirt road into Ghost Ranch. The magical attraction that O’Keeffe felt for the mountain cast its spell on me as well!

From the front yard of her Ghost Ranch home, O’Keeffe had an unobstructed, perfect view Pedernal. Her love, respect, and lifetime captivation for this mountain is seen in her numerous depictions of it.

“Pedernal”

Here is one depiction of Pedernal seen a painting at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.

“Pedernal…from Ranch I”

My first introduction to O’Keeffe’s beloved Pedernal was on a visit to Mia, my hometown Minneapolis Institute of Art. The Mia owns several of her paintings including this one, my favorite version of “Pedernal.”

A common motif in her later work, she combined the mountain with her inclusion of sun-bleached animal bones. In this version of Pedernal, she has framed the mountain within the opening of an abstracted bone, hanging from the porch of her Ghost Ranch home.

O’Keeffe & the Juniper Tree

Juniper trees, commonly referred to as cedar in New Mexico, provided on-going subject matter for O’Keeffe. She was fascinated with their twisting lines and irregular shapes, silhouetted again the deep blue sky.

Juniper Tree

“Gerald’s Tree I” – the Juniper

One particular juniper tree took on a personal meaning to O’Keeffe with the occasion of a visitor to her Ghost Ranch property in 1937. Our tour guide shared this fun story!

O’Keeffe became acquainted with Irish author Gerald Herd during his travels to New Mexico. Eventually, he became a guest staying at her property. He loved to hike and wander in the desert around her home. The name of this painting is evocative of that stay.

“Gerald’s Tree I” captures the dead juniper tree, under which O’Keeffe discovered the footprints of her guest, Gerald. O’Keeffe later wrote: “I guess that he must have been dancing around the tree before I started to paint it. So I always thought of it as Gerald’s Tree.“

Our tour guide told us that if we turn the painting sideways, we can see the shadow of Gerald dancing!

O’Keeffe & Her Ghost Ranch Home

Georgia O’Keeffe first heard of and caught glimpse of Ghost Ranch during a visit in 1929 with friends living in Taos. In 1934, she finally got to visit the ranch in person. She was disappointed to learn that it was a dude ranch owned by Arthur Pack and Carol Stanley. But she fell in love. Her one-night stay grew into the entire summer, a pattern she would continue for years. She would winter in New York with her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, and summer at Ghost Ranch, exploring and painting the landscape.

At first, she rented – and eventually purchased – Pack’s Ghost Ranch residence. In 1940, she became the owner of a house and 7 acres, a very small piece of Ghost Ranch she could call her own.

While there were no tours available to us to visit the house, we were able to get a glimpse of it from beside the road.

Photos of the house in the museum provided a better glimpse into the home’s personality, Pedernal and the clouds!

O’Keeffe & Clouds

Our tour guide shared that O’Keeffe would sit or lay on the rooftop of her Ghost Ranch home for hours and look at the clouds roll by above her.

O’Keeffe’s version of the sky and clouds above her Ghost Ranch home is seen in “Sky Above Clouds IV,” This gigantic painting of huge, puffy white clouds against a blue sky measures 8′ x 24′ (96″ x 288″)

I vividly recall the first time I experienced this masterpiece! (Yes! It is an “experience!”) It looms largely atop the landing of a broad staircase at the Chicago (Illinois) Art Institute.

Perspective of the size of the painting can be seen here as O’Keeffe stands beside it!

O’Keeffe & Ghost Ranch Logo

The logo of Ghost Ranch was adapted from an O’Keeffe drawing the artist had given to Arthur Pack in the 1930′s. The O’Keeffe foundation prohibits the images from any of her artwork be reproduced on items for commercial use. Thus, this is the only image she created that is reproducible. And reproduced it is! It is used on everything from Ghost Ranch stationery to tee shirts, etc.

Visit & Map

Ghost Ranch: Getting There

There are decent directions to get to Ghost Ranch, but I highly recommend using a paper map and not totally depend on your GPS! It is truly in the middle of nowhere, just as O’Keeffe wanted it. GPS signals are sketchy. Once you go through this gate, you will wander around on dirt roads for what seems like endless miles! But all roads eventually end up at the Ghost Ranch headquarters. From there, one has options to explore the area whether on foot, by horseback, or with a tour bus to see the various sites and with various themes.

Ghost Ranch Map

This is a copy of the Ghost Ranch map which is accessible on their website (ghostranch.org) or in hard copies at the visitor center. The visitor center/headquarters are actually much smaller than the map appears. The Chimney Rock can be see at the top of the page near the logo. O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch home can be seen at the top left side showing her with a painting of a bleached cow head.

The website ghostranch.org is a great place to begin one’s journey on what the site has to offer. I found the best options and guided tours for O’Keeffe’s Abiquiu home and Ghost Ranch experiences are available at the O’Keeffe museum website dedicated to all-things-O’Keeffe, okeeffemuseum.org.

Lodging

We chose to stay 2 nights at the Abiquiu Inn in Abiquiu. (abiquiuinn.com/). It was very welcoming and had unique room options with Southwestern, O’Keeffe-ish ambiance. A well-furnished and intriguing gift shop offered locally-inspired goods. Excellent in-door and out-door dining options offered tasty and decently priced food options.

We arrived after dark and had difficulty finding the exact place – so pay attention! Abiquiu is literally a “blink and you miss it” spot on the highway! The Abiquiu Inn, O’Keeffe Welcome Center, are side by side. (See my blog on O’Keeffe’s Abiquiu Home for more details)

Itinerary

The morning of Day One we toured the O’Keeffe Abiquiu home, across the road from the Inn and Info Center. We drove to Ghost Ranch in the afternoon. Day Two we drove to Santa Fe and visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, completing my inspirational O’Keeffe pilgrimage.

For other blogs on O’Keeffe’s paintings, see Related Posts below.

This map gives proximity but not scale.

Sources

• All Photos, unless otherwise indicated, were taken by Cher B or Skip B, 22 and 23 March 2024
• O’Keeffe Tour Guide at Ghost Ranch. O’Keeffe Landscape Tour, 22 March 2024
• ghostranch.org/georgia-okeeffe/. 19 February 2026
• okeeffemuseum.org. 19 February 2026
• Personal experiences of Skip and Cher B on-site at Ghost Ranch, NM, 22 March 2024

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