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Info, Fun and Facts about Art

The back story behind this famous painting

1/31/2018

9 Comments

 
Picture
Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth 1948 - Museum of Modern Art, New York.

I love this painting and always found it haunted me in a beautiful way. When I first saw it, I thought the painting was simply a romantic portrayal of a young girl/woman in  a field in the summer. When I found out during an art history class who the girl is in the painting, and what she suffered from - it became a desperate painting about struggle, loss, pain.

The subject in the painting is Christina Olson, a neighbour of Andrew Wyeth. She was crippled, completely unable to walk (possibly from polio - though she was undiagnosed). Wyeth painted this painting after seeing her agonizingly crawling across her field. His wife Betsy modeled for the painting to portray Christina, and he modified Betsy's body to the more contorted, skeletal form of Christina. Thinking of what an incredible struggle that must have been for Christina Olson on a daily basis, poor, unable to walk, living on a remote farm, changed my original reaction to this painting dramatically. 

When you know the back story and look closely at the painting, you can see her emaciated arms and twisted figure. Seeing the distance Wyeth has placed her on the canvas, from her home, on an inclined hill, is obviously meant to emphasize her situation. The barren landscape, the empty grey sky, the bleak houses - now I look at it and I can not believe that I had not recognized all the clues Wyeth has given us about the real meaning of this piece - and that I did not notice her arms and hands. But my understanding is that many people are also shocked to learn about the backstory of this painting, and also had not seen her the way she is actually painted.

Andrew Wyeth, (born July 12, 1917 and died January 16, 2009)  is one of my favourite artists. His colour palettes, attention to detail and compositions are wonderful. He painted the people around him and the landscapes and buildings close to him. Anna and Karl Kuerner, (his neighbors in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania) and their farm were one of Wyeth's most important subjects for nearly 50 years, as was Christina Olson and the Olson farm. Now that I know more of is work, I see that poverty, discomfort, pain and emptiness are constant themes.  Below are a few more of Andrew Wyeth's evocative paintings.
Picture
Miss Olson - 1952, Tempera (Christina Olson)
Picture
Open House - 1980, Tempera
Picture
Spring REV, 1978, Tempera Final portrait of Karl Kuerner completed during his illness
Picture
Master Bedroom, 1965, Watercolour
Picture
Wind from the Sea, 1947, Tempera
Picture
Chester County, 1962, watercolour
9 Comments
Nicholas I Vanderstoop
2/21/2021 09:55:47 pm

Brilliant, I attempt to be a photographer and poet, your images are stunning.
It reminds how little I the more I do. Love sharing if this is a format.
Or mail you some of my poetry and photos.
Not to sell ever but for the joy of just one mere “ aha”

Nico

Reply
Latina Massage Texas link
4/24/2021 06:30:39 pm

Hello mate nicee post

Reply
Carol Fontaine
3/29/2022 12:13:00 am

Thank you for these. My top favorite is "Christina" and was delighted to find here "Miss Olson". When we downsized we left behind "Wind from the Sea" but not Christina and Master bedroom.

Reply
Lily Williams
9/20/2022 01:34:30 am

Hello! It has actually been hypothesized that Christina had Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) https://neurosciencenews.com/charcot-marie-tooth-disease-christinas-world-4180/

Reply
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10/30/2022 01:42:23 am

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Reply
Kilian
1/16/2023 07:36:29 pm

Actually having the same disability as the woman, I
really didn't like to read this article. We don't know if her life was a struggle and all the bad things you interpret into her situation. Is it your own perception of disability or was it the perception of the painter? Disabled people get a lot of pity for existing also it is not appropriate to pity someone who doesn't suffer. I think this interpretation is quite in terms with the standard deficit view of disability wich is indirectly hurting disabled people by setting their existence as suffering by default.
Maybe she was sitting there and just enjoying the magnificent view. Like you would interpret it when you default thought her to be ablebodied.

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    Kate Green

    Artist and Art Instructor living in Ottawa, Canada.
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