Christina's World
Encyclopedia
Christina's World is a 1948 painting by American painter Andrew Wyeth
, and one of the best-known American paintings of the middle 20th century. It depicts a woman lying on the ground in a treeless, mostly tawny field, looking up at and crawling towards a gray house on the horizon; a barn and various other small outbuildings are adjacent to the house.
This tempera
work, done in a realist style, is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York, as a part of their permanent collection. As of July 2010, the work is displayed outside of the main galleries in an "interstitial space" near the restrooms on the fifth floor.
The house depicted in the painting is known as the Olson House
, and is located in Cushing, Maine
. It is open to the public as a part of the Farnsworth Museum complex; it is a National Historic Landmark, and has been restored to match its appearance in the painting. In the painting, Wyeth separated the house from its barn and changed the lay of the land.
Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century....
, and one of the best-known American paintings of the middle 20th century. It depicts a woman lying on the ground in a treeless, mostly tawny field, looking up at and crawling towards a gray house on the horizon; a barn and various other small outbuildings are adjacent to the house.
This tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
work, done in a realist style, is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York, as a part of their permanent collection. As of July 2010, the work is displayed outside of the main galleries in an "interstitial space" near the restrooms on the fifth floor.
Background
The woman in the painting is Christina Olson (May 3, 1893 — January 27, 1968). She suffered from polio, a muscular deterioration that paralyzed her lower body. Wyeth was inspired to create the painting when through a window from within the house he saw her crawling across a field. Wyeth had a summer home in the area and was on friendly terms with Olson, using her and her younger brother as the subject of paintings from 1940 to 1968. Although Olson was the inspiration and subject of the painting, she was not the primary model — Wyeth's wife Betsy posed as the torso of the painting. Olson was 55 at the time Wyeth created the work.The house depicted in the painting is known as the Olson House
Olson House (Cushing, Maine)
Olson House is a 14-room Colonial farmhouse in Cushing, Maine. The house was made famous by its depiction in Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World. The house and its occupants, Christina and Alvaro Olson, were depicted in numerous paintings and sketches by Wyeth from 1939 to 1968...
, and is located in Cushing, Maine
Cushing, Maine
Cushing is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,322. A favorite of artists for its unspoiled natural setting, Cushing includes the villages of North Cushing, Cushing, South Cushing, and Pleasant Point.-History:Part of the Waldo...
. It is open to the public as a part of the Farnsworth Museum complex; it is a National Historic Landmark, and has been restored to match its appearance in the painting. In the painting, Wyeth separated the house from its barn and changed the lay of the land.