Georgia O'Keeffe

Red and Yellow Cliffs, 1940. Oil on canvas. Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Bequest of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1986.
In 1940, O’Keeffe purchased a house at Ghost Ranch in the Chama River valley of New Mexico. She spent her summers and falls at Ghost Ranch, where she painted the breathtaking views, including these immense red, pink, and yellow striated cliffs that rose up seven hundred feet behind her house. Dotted with green shrubs, the landscape faithfully reproduces the vibrant colors of the American Southwest. The immensity of these geologic outcroppings are emphasized by the tiny patch of blue sky at the top left. Awed by these colorful cliffs, O’Keeffe painted them seven times.