Christina's World

The painting was featured in the 1980 BBC Two series 100 Great Paintings.

Background

The woman in the painting is Anna Christina Olson (May 3, 1893 – January 27, 1968). Anna had a degenerative muscular disorder, possibly polio or Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which left her unable to walk. She was firmly against using a wheelchair, so she would crawl everywhere. Wyeth was inspired to create the painting when he saw her crawling across a field while he was watching from a window in the house. He had a summer home in the area, and was on friendly terms with Olson, using her younger brother and her as the subjects of paintings from 1940 to 1968. Olson was the inspiration and subject of the painting, but she was not the primary model; Wyeth's wife Betsy posed as the torso of the painting. Olson was 55 at the time Wyeth created the work.The painting's title was suggested by Betsy Wyeth, and the artist described his aim as doing justice to Olson's "extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless."

The house depicted in the painting is known as the Olson House in Cushing, Maine. It is open to the public, and operated by the Farnsworth Art Museum. It is a National Historic Landmark and has been restored to match its appearance in the painting, although Wyeth separated the house from its barn and changed the lay of the land for the painting. Wyeth is buried in the nearby Olson family graveyard.