From time to time, we bring together artists who advance from digital art with the help of up-to-date technology and prefer traditional ways and do not break with paper and pencil. In addition, we tell you the details of very popular works that you can see in different places and the stories behind them.
Previously, we have explained the Kanagawa Wave work, which you can see everywhere from t-shirts to wallpapers, with its details and history. Now we go a little further west and examine an American work, Christina’s World.
How did this work come about?
The painting in question was created by American artist Andrew Wyeth in 1948. It is known that the artist made the aforementioned work in the town of Cushing in Maine, USA. In fact, he also captured the inspirational points of the work in this region.
The houses you see in the painting and the woman standing on the ground were not created by a fictional scene. This is a place that really exists. Additionally, the woman in focus is someone Wyeth knows. Moreover, he is the person who inspired the work.
While in Cushing, Wyeth’s wife introduced him to childhood friend Anna Christina Olson:
- Christina and Andrew
Living at the farmhouse with her brother, Alvaro Olson, Christina was very close to the Wyeth family. It is even thought that he used a room in their house when he was working on Wyeth’s art. Regardless, the Olson brothers and the Wyeth family certainly have a warm bond.
So what happened that led to the emergence of this table?
- Alvaro (Christina’s brother) and Andrew
When you first looked at Christina’s World painting, what inference did you make about its background? Personally, I pictured a young girl who could not go home. But in my mind, it wasn’t the distance from home or her fatigue that prevented this girl from going home. Rather, I thought that he did something that would not have been welcome in the countryside at that time, but seemed normal to him in his own world, and that was why he was not wanted at home.
But things were not like that at all:
In the painting, when we look at Christina’s body, a lifeless image greets us from the lower part of her waist. The part above the waist, although weak, looks quite active. It would not be wrong to say that this makes the lifeless at the bottom more noticeable.
It was initially thought that Christina had polio and therefore could not use the lower part from the waist down. But later it was thought that it was caused by another disease known as charcot-marie-tooth, which affects the nerves and weakens the muscles. Both conditions worsen with age.
Not wanting to use a wheelchair, Christina was walking around her house like this:
According to some thoughts, Wyeth had started to paint this painting one day, looking out the window and seeing Christina walking this way through the garden. In conclusion, we can say that the situation of Christina in the painting is quite sad.
But this was not the case for Christina:
Wyeth didn’t feel sorry for Christina in his painting. On the contrary, he appreciated his courageous clinging to fate, which everyone around him described as ‘desperate’. However, it is obvious that this does not close the depressive mood of the work.
Let’s take a look at other details:
We see the farmhouse and other structures in the back. However, no trees or plants other than the grass on the ground are visible in the environment. Only a few birds, albeit in the distance, stand out in one of the upper houses. Traces of motor vehicles heading towards the house from the side were also not in vain. They also put Christina’s predicament into our eyes even more.
Apart from that, the detailed processing of the grass, the details in Christina’s hair and the fact that even the houses in the distance are very detailed are factors that contribute greatly to the reality of this painting.
Other interesting information about the work:
- When we look at the painting, we see a young girl, but Christina was 55 years old when this painting appeared. Also, Wyeth’s wife, Betsy James, modeled because such a pose would make an elderly person uncomfortable. Only hands, arms and dress are Christina’s.
- Wyeth’s father, Newell Wyeth, was also a hugely popular artist. It was his father’s death that prompted Wyeth to use depressive hues, according to sentiments in the art community.
- Wyeth passed away in 2009.
- Christina also inspired different works of Wyeth.
If you have anything you want to add about the table, you can share it in the comment section. Because the discussions about it do not stop.
Sources: MoMA, Farnsworth Art Museum, Jason Drake, Art in Context, National Health System
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