Visual Analysis of Painting

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Visual Analysis of painting “Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth. Not every day we come across an art that truly captures our curiosity. One of the painting which captured my attention, because of its unique realistic technic is a 1948 painting, Christina’s World (32 ¼ in × 47 ¾ in, Museum of Modern Art, New York City) by Andrew Wyeth. Wyeth is one of the best-known American painters of the middle 20th century and his art mainly focused on land and people surrounding him during his life and career. One of the biggest inspiration in his art was his neighbor Anna Christina Olson of South Cushing, Maine, who suffered from a degenerative muscle condition- polio, which took away her ability to walk (Wikipedia). Wyeth’s work underwent a significant change after the loss of his father. The palette of his paintings became subdued, his landscapes empty and his figures sad and pathetic. Christina's World represents all of these characteristics and reflects the painter’s inner grief. At first, when we look at the painting in the foreground we see a young, white, slim women wearing a light pink dress and gray worn shoes. Some of her black hair is loosely tied in the ponytail and some strands of her hair are flowing, showing that there is wind in the field. The women is lying on tall grass in the middle of the field, looking up at the horizon. The middle ground is taken over by the big open field which is divided into two different colors: yellow and orange-brownish. In the background, we see the dark buildings in the distance at the upper right side of the hill. One of them seems to be an old farmhouse surrounded with wire fences. The main focus of the painting is on the woman. The light is focused on her. That is where your eyes go first. Christina really stands out from the painting because the way her body is positioned. Her lower body seems to be dragged by her upper body.
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