Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe (must see)

Since 1997, this museum has celebrated an artist whose identity has become deeply entwined with New Mexico. Georgia O’Keeffe, a leading figure in the New York art world and often called the “Mother of American modernism,” first visited New Mexico in 1929 and quickly fell in love with its landscapes. After the death of her husband, photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz, she settled permanently in the village of Abiquiú in 1949.

The museum holds the world’s largest collection of O’Keeffe’s work, including nearly 150 paintings and hundreds of drawings, pastels, and watercolors. Representative highlights include “Blue Flower” from 1918, which demonstrates her early experiments with abstraction; “Canna Red and Orange” from 1926, an example of the enlarged floral compositions for which she became famous; and “Ram’s Head”, “Blue Morning Glory” from 1938, which combines a sun-bleached animal skull with a delicate flower.

Her fascination with the New Mexican landscape appears in works such as “Pedernal”, painted in 1941–1942, and “Black Place”, “Grey and Pink” from 1949. Because the galleries display a rotating selection from the collection, particular works may not always be on view.

The exhibitions offer an unusually personal introduction to O’Keeffe’s life and artistic development. Alongside paintings, drawings, and sculptures, visitors may see photographs, correspondence, art materials, clothing, personal belongings, and objects she collected as sources of inspiration. Temporary exhibitions sometimes place her work alongside that of her contemporaries or artists whom she admired, influenced, or inspired.

Guided experiences are also available. Visitors interested in learning more can reserve a tour of O’Keeffe’s historic Home and Studio in Abiquiú, about 52 miles north of Santa Fe. Her separate Ghost Ranch residence is not normally open to the general public.