Wyeth died today at 91.
I've seen this painting before and always assumed it was a young girl lazing in a field, possibly daydreaming or just pondering her life. But...
"It depicts Christina Olson, who had an undiagnosed muscular deterioration that paralyzed her lower body—likely Polio. She was a strong and independent woman who did not let anything stop her from getting what and where she wanted. She looks at her house, dreading the crawl back but eager for the warmth it holds for her."
Whose interpretation do I like better? Dunno. But to read about his meaning of it really surprised me...
2 comments:
I saw it your way when I first aw the picture. But then, when I saw Wyeths explanation, his way made moe sense.
Or did it? Given her physical condition that is keeping her from her home, how did she get OUT to the middle of the field in the first place????
'splain that, chicky! :)
Christina Olson: Her World Beyond the Canvas
By Jean Olson Brooks, Deborah Dalfonso
This book explains it all. The painting is hauntingly beautiful. Wyeth used his wife to model for the painting. Christina Olson regularly made her way down the hill to visit the graves of her parents, and then made her way back up the hill to the house. She was a very independent woman with a spirit stronger than the body that sheltered it.
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