I chose the painting Christina’s World because of the strong emotional appeal I think it has. It impressed me very much when I saw it for the first time. The painting was printed in an art book that I was reading, and the moment I opened to the page where this picture was, it made me feel something. As I looked at the painting, I could feel the state of being perplexed and being lost. Then I looked at the title of the painting, and it impressed me, too. Andrew Wyeth had painted as if creating a window into another world that let anyone peek into it. I think it was one of my first experiences of encountering art as something that really appeals to an observer and gives him or her some insight.
Years after I saw the picture for the first time, I learned that it was inspired by Christina Olson, Wyeth’s neighbor, who suffered from a neurological disease and could not walk. She would crawl in the field, and Wyeth could see her from his house. According to Merymen (1996), Wyeth said, “I felt the loneliness of that figure—perhaps the same that I felt myself as a kid” (p. 15). This made me even more interested in the painting. Besides stirring particular emotions, it also tells a story of a real woman. I think anyone who has ever felt lonely in this world or puzzled about it, can relate to the picture’s heroine.
The painting has become famous since its creation in 1948. Analysis of its content, as well as the story of its creation and Wyeth’s personal reflections on it, will explain what influenced and inspired the painter. This analysis will help toward understanding general trends in mid-20th century American art, its connection to history, and its legacy. Although the painting seems to be about a particular woman, there is more to it than one personal story. I think that Christina’s World reflects the feelings of many of Wyeth’s contemporaries, who had just lived through World War II. I believe that looking at this painting from a historical perspective can reveal interesting features of US history in the late 1940s.
Finally, a project on Christina’s World is relevant for the humanities, because the painting reflects on a human’s place in the world. Doctors could never define exactly what Christina Olson was suffering from. Her disease was “undiagnosed and misunderstood” (Potter, 2006, p. 878). However, she lived with it with courage. Even her posture in the picture shows that she is not giving up. In a way, this picture is about limits imposed on a person by illness (Potter, 2006), which is an important subject for the humanities, because human beings face limits to their capabilities all the time. Another symbolic feature of the painting is that we cannot see Christina’s face. It makes the one who looks at the picture wonder what her face might look like at the depicted moment, and also, what their own face would look like in “her world.”
I am looking forward to doing a project on Christina’s World because I believe it has a lot to offer. It has emotional appeal, historical perspective, and reflection on the role of humans in the world. It is also interesting to analyze how Andrew Wyeth conveyed feelings and meaning through the use of particular colors, light, and painting techniques. I know that my personal attachment to the painting will make this project especially interesting.
References
Meryman, R. (1996). Andrew Wyeth: a secret life. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Potter, P. (2006). On the threshold of illness and emotional isolation. Emerging infectious diseases, 12(5), 878.