Andrew Wyeth’s most famous piece of art, Christina’s World, is renowned as being one of the most famous of American portraits for its realistic depiction of a classic New England setting and a steadfast mysterious female. After the Museum of Modern Art purchased the piece, Wyeth was immediately recognized as a notable American Artist, jump-starting his career in the art world. Along with his rise to prominence, Christina’s World was the first introduction to the “evolution of his own private language of metaphor.” As positioned in the painting, Wyeth’s first impression of Christina occurred when she was out in the field, where he officially recognized her steadfast ambition. He explained that she "was limited physically but by no means spiritually," …show more content…
How she became paralyzed is up for debate with some stating that she had a “degenerative muscle condition,” while others point to her paralysis as being the consequence of polio. Wyeth wanted to portray Christina as a smart, nature-loving girl with an ambitious quest to continue her work at home. Upon first glance, consistent in Wyeth’s first sketches of Christina, he found her condition to be disturbing. However, as his relationship with her grew, he ended up romanticizing her paralysis, transforming her misshapen body into one filled with strength and ambition. The attraction and disgust a viewer feels towards the piece are consistent with Wyeth’s idealized representation, her “youthful hips, and torso,” coupled with her, “bony arms, and hands” make up this feeling of repugnant allure. Christina’s intent longing for the broken-down farmhouse gives meaning to the painting as a whole, implying that Christina’s world is ensnared by strained movement. Throughout the process of painting the piece, Wyeth eliminated various buildings in the background and entirely fabricated the hill, purposely distorting the background to put emphasis on Christina. Historians refer to the world as being a “personal projection,” because the painting is “pure fiction” with the absence of vegetation and machine making the painting as a whole one of …show more content…
As viewers insert themselves into Christina’s perspective, they recall stories dealing with “isolation and entanglement” as laid out by the eerie setting. Her turning away can also symbolize her defiance to the social construct that forces disabled peoples into subordination and dehumanization. Another interpretation for Christina’s pose is the idea that she has found her path through life, similarly, Wyeth was also in the process of discovering what his future would consist of. In his earlier painting Winter a boy is depicted marching aimlessly across an open field while, two years later, Christina is poised to mirror the emotion of her being dead set on going home, meaning that Wyeth has found his purpose. Also, since Christina is painted on the outskirts of her property looking in, we can infer that her intense gaze connects the house itself to her like a “second body.” Wyeth believed that houses could “blur the boundary between self and world,” causing the large gap between her body and the house to be simultaneously a symbol of helplessness and courage. The setting of the painting has itself become a symbol for the realm of old New England which Wyeth often sought to return to. His idealized depiction of New England coupled with the overwhelming sense of loss