I’ll never forget reading somewhere in the many books or magazine articles I’ve read about Andrew Wyeth how he reacted to this painting when he painted the color of Christina’s dress against the painstakingly highlighted blades of grass.

This is not going to be an exact quote, but it is how I remembered him saying it.  He got so excited about the color of the dress against the field that he ran out into the yard in disbelief.  That is when I realized artists do get emotional over the paintings.  I thought it was just me.

If I recall he stated that when the painting was finished he hung it on the wall and no one seemed to take note of it.  He thought he’d painted a flat tire.

Christina Olson was a resident of the Olson farmhouse (in the background) and one of the two models in the painting.  She had a muscular disorder and was said to have crawled instead of electing to use a wheelchair.  The other model was Betsy Wyeth.  Betsy was in her mid-20s while Christina was in her mid-50s.

Wyeth painted Cristina’s World in 1948 during a period when the excitement in the art world was all about the abstract expressionists and their work; therefore, art critics gave him very little notice.  However, the Museum of Modern Art recognized it for a masterpiece and bought it for $1800.00; the rest is history.