Peru – Machu Picchu, Morning Light

In Peru—Machu Picchu, Morning Light, Georgia O’Keeffe portrayed not the remains of the 15th-century royal Inca estate but the steep side of a nearby mountain thrusting up to the sky. She admired the archaeological site, but preferred the dramatic terrain: “The great ruin of Machu Picchu . . . is in the most beautiful green sheer mountains . . . a peak rises up above the big ruin, across the river—terraced so that I wouldn’t dream of trying to go up it—it is so sheer—the mts. were to me more wonderful than the ruin.” O’Keeffe spent three months in Peru in 1956, but only painted the Peruvian landscape a few times.