Andrew Wyeth and "Christina's World"
What a wonderful first two days in Maine! I spent hours at the Olson House, the subject of numerous works of art by Andrew Wyeth, including Christina's World, 1948. Wyeth's series of drawings, watercolors and tempera paintings featuring Christina Olson, her brother Alvaro and the house itself, occupied Wyeth from 1939 through 1968.
Wyeth expressively documented life on the isolated, saltwater farm in many of his works. He said, "In the portraits of that house, the windows are eyes or pieces of the soul almost. To me, each window is a different part of Christina's life".
Look at my photographs to see the hill up which Wyeth watched Christina crawl because a disability prevented her from walking. See Wyeth's grave, 2009, where he chose to buried...in the Olson family gravesite, descendants of the Hathorn family. The Hathorn's settled the saltwater farm in 1743. They were seafarers and shipmasters.
On my second day in Maine I spent hours at the Farnsworth Art Museum where many of the three generations of Wyeth artists (NC, Andrew and Jamie) works are on display.
Andrew's home is across the cove from my cottage. It is a beautiful home with an awesome boat anchored in the cove. Though he died five years ago, the family still owns the house. To the left of the house and in a cleared opening is another Wyeth home, one of Andrew's relative.
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| Olson House |
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| Christina's Kitchen Window |
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| Christina's Kitchen Window from the Interior |
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| Andrew Wyeth's grave and tombstone |
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The hill up which Christina crawled in the painting
Christina's World |
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| Garden Shed on Broad Cove, my home for two weeks |
