Christinas World - Assignment Example

 Christina’s World Description Christina’s World is one of the most important, influential and renowned American paintings of the middle of the 20th century. Christina’s World is a work by Andrew Wyeth, an American artist who lived in Pennsylvania for most of his life. Wyeth’s work is primarily realist, and draws influence from the people and nature of his hometown, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania (Meryman, 1996). Wyeth’s father was also an artist, and Wyeth himself has cited that his father and his wife were the two most important influences on his artistic style and his development (Anderson, 2007). Whilst Wyeth has been an extremely influential character in American 20th century art, his work is controversial. The main reason for this is that Wyeth developed his realist style as abstraction was taking favour in the U.S., and many found his works to be formulaic and overdone (Daniels, 1985). Despite this, Wyeth exhibitions continue to achieve substantial attendances and he still holds an important place in the heart of many Americans. The piece Christina’s World is perhaps Wyeth’s most famous work of art. It is painted in his favourite medium, egg tempera, and is in his favoured realist style. The use of tempera here allows Wyatt to create almost photographic detailing in the piece, whilst retaining an element of control over the brushstrokes. The painting depicts a young woman lying on her side, reaching up towards a grey house on the horizon. The landscape depicted in the piece is bleak; the field is tawny and treeless and there seems to be very little wildlife. The subject of the painting is Christina Olsen, who suffered from polio, leaving her unable to move her lower body, hence the crawling/reaching movement of the woman in the painting (Anderson, 2007). The realist style of the painting is perhaps at contrast to the other abstract works at the time, but there is something unsettling and not entirely real about the painting, which is part of its beauty. Analysis There are many ways in which Wyeth explores the principles of design and various visual elements. Christina’s World explores space by splitting it into three clear subsections; the desperate woman in the foreground, the bleak empty middle ground, and the tiny farm in the background (Meryman, 1996). All of these elements are important in Christina’s World, and all of which add different things to the painting. The bleak middle ground is characteristic of Wyeth’s work, who painted his beautiful landscapes with an emptiness (Anderson, 2007) and it could be suggested that this endless space is a representation of the struggles of Christina to crawl her way to the farm in the background. The colors used in the painting are also drawn along these three lines, with the distant farm being painted in a bleak gray, vast expanses of rich orange to denote the middle ground, and the pink dress of Christina. Again, this is representative of the different natures of the subjects of these three areas of space and how they work together in the piece. Wyeth has also created a confusion over the focal point. Whilst it may seem evident that Christina should be the focus, her pink dress blends well into the expanse of field and the eye is drawn to other areas of the painting. This again could be surmised to symbolise the bleak nature of Christina’s situation and how her polio has led her to become trapped in the field, trapped within her own body (Schroeder, 1965). Perhaps the focal point could be considered to be the bright light between the farm and the barn, which Christina appears to be angling her head towards and is perhaps her final target. This works to make Christina appear more familiar with her environment and shows that she understands how to move around within it and how to use movement despite her debilitating condition that prevents walking and normal use of her legs. The proportion of the objects is very realistic, and would again suggest that Christina should be the focal point, as she occupies much of the space. However, the contrast of the grey above the skyline to the brightly coloured field means that the eye is often drawn upwards towards her goal. The painting also uses asymmetric balance (Daniels, 1985) to further draw the eye to different areas of the work. Interpretation As with many of Wyeth’s pieces, there is a desperation and bleakness to Christina’s World (Anderson, 2007) which perhaps captures the nature of Christina’s polio. Wyeth often painted his landscapes bleakly (Daniels, 1985), and in this case this style seems pertinent to how Christina’s experiences with polio have shaped the way she lives her life; she must now crawl across lifeless, treeless fields to reach distant grey farms on the horizon. The surrounding nature is rugged and lifeless, and lends Christina a type of vulnerability that could be a representation of her degenerative muscular condition. There is, however, a softness to the rugged landscape conveyed by the use of the warm colours, which represents how Christina uses her familiarity with the landscape to overcome her condition and still maintain movement and control. Christina also seems to be well settled into her landscape, arching her head towards the barn and having a clear target for her movement, which again lends the painting a feeling of serenity and familiarity, despite the potential for bleakness within such a landscape (Anderson, 2007). Judgement This painting is important to the history of art for several reasons. One of the most important aspects of the painting is that it was painted in a realist style, which was becoming less favoured by artists during the middle of the 20th century. Wyeth’s determination to continue painting in this more traditional style is interesting, and has been the source of most of the controversy surrounding the painting. Many feel that Christina’s World is tired and old-fashioned (Meryman, 1996) because of Wyeth’s realism, which contrasts with the abstractionism of the time. It is perhaps this determination to stick to realism, however, that has made it a firm favourite with the American public and art lovers worldwide, as it portrays a clear message whilst still remaining an enigma. Another important aspect of the painting is the subject matter. Many of those in the 1940s and 1950s would have known of polio and its debilitating effects, and this perhaps why it speaks so clearly to so many, and why it remains influential in the art world. The painting at once displays characteristics of desperation, from the reaching and crawling towards the end goal, and hope, from the use of colours and the ability of Christina to reach her goal. The realism of the work is again important here, because it is clear what the work represents and how Wyeth wanted to portray the effects of polio and how it has affected sufferers. References Anderson, RJ. “Christina’s world. American icon and medical enigma.” The Pharos of Alpha Omega Alpha-Honor Medical Society. Alpha Omega Alpha 70.3 (2007): 4. Print. Daniels, E.B. “Nostalgia and hidden meaning.” American Imago 42.4 (1985): 371–383. Print. Meryman, R. Andrew Wyeth: A secret life. HarperCollins, 1996. Print. Schroeder, F.E.H. “Andrew Wyeth and the Transcendental Tradition.” American Quarterly (1965): 559–567. Print. Read More