The Artist: Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth was a regionalist painter, born in 1917 and passing away in 2009. He is best known for his depictions of the rural lifestyle of the area around him, with his favorite subjects being the land and people around him. There were two farms whose land and family he would use as models in his work.
The Painting: Christina's World
Christina's World is a painting by Andrew Wyeth, completed in 1948. The painting measures 82 x 121 cm and is done in oil on canvas. It is considered to be one of the best-known American paintings of the mid-20th century and is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Details of the Painting
The painting depicts a woman, Anna Christina Olson, looking up at a gray house on the horizon. Olson had a degenerative muscular disorder called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease which meant that she had not been able to walk since she was a young child. She was firmly against using a wheelchair, so she would crawl everywhere. Wyeth was inspired to create the painting when he saw her crawling across a field while he was watching from a window in the house. He had a summer home in the area and was on friendly terms with Olson, using her and her younger brother as the subjects of paintings from 1940 to 1968.
Style
The painting is done in a realist style, with incredible detail highlighting individual hairs and blades of grass. In this style of painting, known as magic realism, everyday scenes are imbued with poetic mystery. The artist himself described Christina's World as "Magic! It's what makes things sublime. It's the difference between a picture that is profound art and just a painting of an object."
Reception
The painting received little attention from critics at the time, but Alfred Barr, the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), bought the painting for $1,800. He promoted it at MoMA and it gradually grew in popularity over the years. Today, it is considered an icon of American art and is rarely loaned out by the museum.
The Model: Anna Christina Olson
Anna Christina Olson was a lifelong resident of Cushing, Maine, and the farm where she lived is pictured in "Christina's World." She had a degenerative muscular disorder that took away her ability to walk by the late 1920s. Eschewing a wheelchair, she crawled around the house and grounds. Wyeth, who had summered in Maine for many years, met the spinster Olson and her bachelor brother, Alvaro, in 1939. The three were introduced by Wyeth's future wife, Betsy James (b. c. 1922), another long-term summer resident.
The Location: Olson House
The house depicted in the painting is known as the Olson House in Cushing, Maine, and is open to the public, operated by the Farnsworth Art Museum. It is a National Historic Landmark and has been restored to match its appearance in the painting, although Wyeth separated the house from its barn and changed the lay of the land for the painting.
Conclusion
Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth is a masterpiece of American art, imbued with poetic mystery and incredible detail. The painting is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is considered an icon of American art. To learn more about this painting and other works by Andrew Wyeth, visit
Christina's World on WahooArt.com.
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Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth