Andrew Wyeth, the modern artist who defied the modern art movement with haunting realistic paintings, died Friday. The art world didn’t know what to do with him. I like this tribute:
Andrew Wyeth, who died today at 91 at his home in Chadds Ford, Pa., was the great problem of American modern art. He was a problem first because he so completely refused to be modern in any terms that the art world cared about or could stomach. Long after it was no longer fashionable or even permissible to practice a flinty, granular realism, Wyeth went on making pictures with the kind of brushwork that specified the world in almost molecular detail. That his technical capabilities were so apparent only made it more annoying to some critics that he wouldn’t turn his back on them. Virtuosity of that kind was something that we almost wanted to get off the table, an embarrassing reminder of pleasures that painting had to shed if it was to move forward into the brave new world of Modernism and everything that came after.
An exercise in Wyeth’s honor. What do you see in “Christina’s World” and what meanings do you see in the painting?
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I played a piece in Wind Ensemble based off that painting titled Christina’s World. Her’s is a poignant story. Here’s an anecdote from some online liner notes.
“When Andrew Wyeth completed the tempera, he was hesitant to show it to Christina for fear she might not understand his feelings for her and her life, so he brought it back from Olson’s where it was painted, and hung it in our house. Several days later we invited Christina and Alvaro for dinner. Alvaro carried his sister into the living room and almost deliberately placed her on the couch directly under the painting, so that it was impossible for her to see it. When time came to serve dinner, I moved a small table into the room and sat her facing the picture. Not one word was mentioned about the painting during the entire meal. Later that evening, after they had left, my husband told me that while we were all out of the room, cleaning the table, he came back and found Christina staring at the painting. He summoned up his courage and asked her how she liked it. She reached out with her crippled hand, caught his, and brought it to her lips…” (Betsy James Wyeth)
The musical piece was composed by Kenneth Fuchs.
In this painting I see a yearning for heaven, where heaven is not subjected to over-imagination, but is a real place, a home, a joy. And a young lady utterly unable to get there herself, though she will be taken, lifted with loving hands.
Thanks, Mary. That’s really illuminating. Christina is an actual handicapped young woman. Is this quotation from Wyeth’s wife?
This is a stark modernist work that portrays Cristina’s stark physical and spiritual struggle to come home. Christina’s God given dignity and strength are striking. It, also, shows abstractly the beauty and sadness of a mown hayfield in summertime Maine
http://www.ott.zynet.co.uk/polio/lincolnshire/library/drhenry/christinasworld.html
biography of christian olsen
christina was in her 50´s when the painting was done. and it was actually wyeth´s wife who served as the model for the figure in the painting.
christina literally dragged herself around because she refused to use medical devices for assistence and refused to be called disabled.
I am not sure what to make of all the metaphors read into this painting by the posters here. did the artist actually say that this was what the painting was about?
This was informative and interesting. More analysis of art please! Are there any good art blogs out there?
I was saddened by this news. As a true-blue southerner, I don’t know why Wyeth’s art always captivated me even as a youngster. So much of his work reflects his stark view of death as reflected in bleak New England landscapes and faded barns. I read two wonderful biographies, Wyeth, A Portrait, by Richard Meryman, and a biography about Andrew’s father, the great illustrator, N. C. Wyeth. What a fascinating family they were. N.C. was dark and brooding, but he managed to transfer his incredible talent and imagination to his son. I feel compelled to read those biographies again.
#2 christina was 52 years old when the painting was done. hardly a young woman! she appears young in the painting because wyeth´s wife stood in as the model for the painting.