SANTA FE –
Stepping through the entrance to the Ghost Ranch canyon complex, I take a sudden breath as huge reddish-brown sandstone mountains hover into view amid the sprawling, desolate plains. Even now, I recall the vertiginous sensation that enveloped me as I drank in the overwhelming power of the majestic peaks about 60 miles north of Santa Fe.
American modernist artist Georgia O’Keeffe maintained a summer home here, where she spent her time during many of those seasons. According to her friend Carol Merrill, 67, the painter once said that when she “saw Ghost Ranch for the first time, she knew she was home.”
O’Keeffe based many of her works on the twisted rocks and stratified, fissure-riven mountains that encompassed her dwelling.
Born in 1887 in Wisconsin, O’Keeffe grew up surrounded by nature on her parents’ dairy farm and showed a keen interest in art from a young age. After studying at institutions such as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she worked as a commercial designer and art teacher while developing her own creations. She painted thematic objects such as scenery, flowers and bones, characterized by her technique of enlarging the subjects to a point of abstraction.
At the age of 31, she was invited to visit New York by renowned photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who had been deeply impressed by her work. The pair fell in love and married in 1924. O’Keeffe’s subsequent work was heavily influenced by her husband, with her paintings often concentrating on tight points of focus that eschew surrounding details – a technique often used in the photographic world.
O’Keeffe spent the next 25 years or so living in New York, but she never lost her fascination with New Mexico, usually spending the summer season almost every year there working on her paintings.
After her husband’s death in 1946, she took up permanent residence in New Mexico, where she lived a “bohemian” lifestyle, said acquaintance Nancy Hopkins Reily, 80. Her art was an indispensable part of her life during periods away from her husband, recalls Reily.
“She was determined to do what she wanted to do. She didn’t fit into any pattern,” Reily said. “We felt like her ranch was kind of like a safe harbor for her.”
O’Keeffe also retained a winter home about 15 miles to the south of her summer home, where she cultivated fruits such as apples and peaches, in addition to vegetables and herbs. She would preserve the crops through drying and freezing, and upon returning to Ghost Ranch, would cook her home-grown fare.
“She planted everything she used, but she was not a vegetarian though she was into organic gardening before it was the norm,” said Agapita Lopez, 59, who oversees the O’Keeffe houses.
The kitchen of the summer home is unchanged from the artist’s time: Bottled herbs such as chamomile and mint snuggle alongside carefully arranged condiments in a scene reminiscent of a photo shoot from a trendy magazine. In the living room, much thought has obviously gone into the tasteful placement of interior objects such as the vases and sofa, and one in no way feels that the scene is anything but utterly contemporary. The scene offers a glimpse into the modest life lived by the wilderness-loving O’Keeffe.
These days, Ghost Ranch serves as a retreat and education center and is a popular sightseeing destination – complete with its own campsite – and there is no shortage of visitors keen to gain a greater understanding of O’Keeffe’s connection with the place, especially her work and lifestyle.
Upon her death, the painter’s ashes were scattered to the elements from the top of a nearby mountain. Indeed, one can almost sense her presence here in the landscape she loved.
