Christina's World
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Christina's World |
| Andrew Wyeth, 1948 |
| Tempera on panel |
| 32 × 48 cm |
| Museum of Modern Art, New York City |
Christina's World is the most famous work by American painter Andrew Wyeth, and one of the best-known American paintings of the 20th century. Painted in 1948, this tempera work is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It shows a woman named Christina Olson, who had an undiagnosed muscular deterioration that paralyzed her lower body, perhaps poliomyelitis, dragging herself across the ground to pick flowers from her garden. She is the subject of a number of other paintings by Wyeth, along with her brother.
The house in Cushing, Maine, where Wyeth had been staying when he saw the scene that inspired the painting, still stands, although Wyeth took artistic license in its depiction, separating the barn from the house and changing the lay of the land. Known as the Olson house, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
- The painting features briefly in the comic book series Preacher by Garth Ennis. Jesse Custer views the painting, his mother's favorite, at the MOMA.
- A parody version of the painting appeared in The Simpsons episode "Springfield Up". The painting was identical to the real one, except for featuring Mr. Burns in Christina's place.
- In the DVD extras to the movie Tideland (film) director Terry Gilliam cites Christina's World as an inspiration in setting the backdrop and mood for the movie.
- What appears to be this painting appears as a prop in performances of the Blue Man Group. The prop actually uses a removable Christina, which is revealed when removed with a vacuum.
[edit] Reference
- Christina's World in the MoMA Online Collection
