A Visit To Georgia O'Keefe and Ghost Ranch

Santa Fe is considered the oldest settlement in the U.S. dating back to the 1600's when it was established by the Spaniards. St. Francis of Assissi, which is a Catholic basilica and located one block east of the plaza in Santa Fe, is over 400 years old. As you may already know, Santa Fe is a fine tourist destination for people from all over the world. In the summer months it's mild and dry climate is a refuge from the hot humid conditions in the south and mid west and in winter the skiers come in large numbers. If you have the opportunity of vacationing in Santa Fe or on a trip to Taos there is an excellent day trip with a lot of great photo opportunities.

Pictured  below left is Georgia O'Keeffe an American artist of great fame who called northern New Mexico home during much of her later life.

Briefly, O'Keeffe's early story was that she took up art in pursuit of making an independent career out of it but became disillusioned with the chances of becoming successful. This was around 1908 and she simply decided to take a job in Chicago as a commercial artist. She was from Wisconsin. Several years later she again had the urge to strike out in hopes of becoming successful as an independent artist...not liking the routine of being employed by someone else in the commercial world. This happened after she spent time at a University of Virginia summer school and met the artist Arthur Wesley Dow. He was considered an innovative artist and Georgia O'Keefe like his ideas.This was the period where she began her various teaching endeavors.


Shortly after this, some of O'Keeffe's charcoal drawings came to the attention of a few New Yorker's who brought these to the attention of Alfred Stieglitz who had a New York gallery. Stieglitz asked her to move to New York and continue her art work there. She did and they eventually married after his divorce. Stieglitz eventually made several hundred photographs of O'Keeffe during their time together and worked setting up many exhibitions of her work.


1929 was the year Georgia O'Keeffe started coming to New Mexico spending time in both Santa Fe and Taos. She began to preferred this over her then usual upstate New York summers.She found inspiration in the surroundings. If you have the chance to visit the Santa Fe/Taos area you will see the natural beauty and colors of the land which would probably inspire most artists. In fact it does and the this area of New Mexico is a mecca for the art world. O'Keeffe was considered by many to be a loner and went on her own to explore many areas in northern New Mexico in her Ford Model A.

Georgia O'Keeffe 1918

O'Keeffe went on to establish herself as a popular artist.She also did some work for the Dole company in Hawaii in 1939. She was honored and inducted into several organizations in later life. In 1962 she was elected to the fifty member American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1966 she was elected a Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. There were several other honors bestowed her in the art world. She died in 1986 in Santa Fe at the age of 98.


Georgia O'Keeffe spent many years in a town with the name Abiquiu. It's located about a 45 minutes to one hour drive north of Santa Fe and in some very picturesque country. Makes a perfect low cost day trip during your New Mexico vacation. In Abiquiu you want to stop and see her house which is up a short winding road right off the main highway. You will also want to visit Ghost Ranch which O'Keeffe  spent summers at which is just a short drive north of Abiquiu. Add the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum to your trip planner while in Santa Fe. It's located just a few blocks west of the Santa Fe plaza. For dozens of western U.S. trip ideas and historic sites please visit Western Trips.