Christina's World
my thoughts on Andrew Wyeth's painting
The best art not only invokes a visceral reaction but also has a great story behind it.
I was in second grade art class and Ms. Mouse was showing us different famous paintings. One painting I recognized immediately, because I saw it everyday in my living room. The painting was Christina’s World.
The realist piece depicts a girl in a long pink dress sitting in a field of grass, looking out to a farm-like structure ahead. Her dark hair is tied back and with the front pieces blowing in the wind. Her arms are simultaneously lifting her body up while seeming to reach towards the farm. The colors used in the painting are muted, from her faded pink dress and grey skies, to the washed-out green grass she is lounging in.
This whole piece screams of old Americana where the majority of people were farmers and the day started and ended based on the sun’s presence. Even though Andrew Wyeth painted Christina’s World in 1948, with Maine’s rural landscape as the background, it feels like it could have been painted a hundred years before then. The colors and landscape gives the work a feeling of nostalgia for a simpler time.
For me, this piece has always invoked a sense of longing. Her left arm seems to be reaching towards the farm as if craving to be there while her lower body stays stagnant. It’s a bittersweet feeling but it also gives a slight feeling of hope. Though the colors and landscape are stark, Christina longs to be where the uninviting buildings lay, making the viewer wonder if maybe there is joy or happiness within that make the bleak surroundings worthwhile.
Despite the level of detail and realism in the painting’s landscape, the artist names the piece Christina’s World, urging the viewer to see the landscape from Christina’s point of view. She is not simply the subject but the muse.
The real life Christina had a degenerative disease that made her unable to walk from a young age. She refused to use a wheelchair and would crawl from place to place using her upper body strength to pull her forward. Christina was not a girl, but a 55 year old woman when Andrew Wyeth met her. She spent her whole life on the farm depicted in the painting and using her determination to do all the necessary things to upkeep her family home.
Christina’s World not only gives us a peek at her daily life but also her specific perspective. As someone who spent the majority of their life on the ground, her view point is literally different than the average person. Buildings and people seem larger and cabinets harder to reach, but her unique perspective has her always looking up.
The longing in the painting is still present for me but it’s also coupled with the knowledge that she will get to her destination as she had many times before. When Andrew Wyeth died, he chose to be buried in a cemetery that overlooked her family farm. Even in death, he wanted to see Christina’s world. Wyeth’s painting is currently in the MoMA if you want to see it in person.