Untitled (Ghost Ranch Landscape)

Georgia O'Keeffe regarded the weathered mountains of New Mexico's Jemez range with near mystical reverence. She is believed to have painted this watercolor during her first summer at her beloved Ghost Ranch, which was located on the eastern edge of the range. In this understated virtuoso performance, she made the flow of her glowing colors seem like and act of nature, a metaphor for the formation of the landscape itself. More than a literal depiction, O'Keeffe's emphasis on the high, undulating horizon against a featureless sky transforms the mountains into an abstract sculptural form.