The Olson House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011, and today is part of the renowned Farnsworth Museum - together they’re two of the most interesting things to do in Rockland, Maine for Wyeth fans and art lovers. Seeing the homestead that was home to Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro, hearing the historic details, and gazing across that hay field brings new life and a poignant perspective to one of the most important works of art Wyeth ever created. But to those who love it, a visit to the Olson House in Maine is a must - not just a memorable excursion or a nice ride in the country. It has ironically been called “a mandatory dorm room poster”, derided as insulting and exploitative to persons with disabilities, and even parodied by Mad Magazine. Planning a Trip to Maine? Consider a Maine windjammer cruise on the Schooner Mary Day!Ĭhristina’s World, painted in 1948 and now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is one of Andrew Wyeth’s masterpieces, perhaps his most recognizable work, and the one painting that draws some of his most vocal critics for various reasons. As a young student, the painting moved me, enough for me to notice and continue to stare. There was something about that woman reclining in the field.
The girl across the hall from me had an oversized poster of it plastered on her wall, like a window to some faraway world, and I’d gravitate between a feeling of calm and an unsettling desire to escape whenever I’d look at it.
It was also in college when I fell in love with Christina’s World. The houses and fieldstone barns of places like the Kuerner farm in the Brandywine Valley were a favorite subject and he created some of his most famous paintings there like Trodden Weed (1951), Evening at Kuerners (1970) and countless others. To me, his body of work epitomized the grayness of Pennsylvania in wintertime when the cold drains the color from the landscape, and the snow and ice finish it off. I first learned of him as a college student in rural eastern Pennsylvania, where Wyeth also lived and painted so many of his famous works. He’s also, surprisingly to me, one of the most critically panned. Andrew Wyeth is one of America’s most prolific and successful artists of our time.
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