Artist:
Andrew Wyeth
(American, 1917 - 2009)
Sitter:
Christina Olson
(American)
Anna Christina
Medium: Tempera on panel
Date: 1967
Dimensions:
21 1/2 × 23 1/2 in. (54.6 × 59.7 cm)
Accession number: 2002.13
Copyright: © 2024 Wyeth Foundation for American Art / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Label Copy:
Wyeth first became acquainted with Anna Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro in 1939 after Betsy James (who became Wyeth’s wife the following year) brought the artist to the Olson home in Cushing, Maine. Christina became his muse for the next three decades, most famously portrayed in Christina’s World (1948, Museum of Modern Art).
This final portrait of Christina was painted just half a year before her death in January of 1968. It is remarkable in its bluntness, with her sidelong, inscrutable gaze conveying both her independence and implicit trust in the artist. Christina’s demise, along with that of her brother just one month earlier, brought an end to Wyeth’s preoccupation with the Olson family and property, and prompted him to search for new subjects.
Wyeth first became acquainted with Anna Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro in 1939 after Betsy James (who became Wyeth’s wife the following year) brought the artist to the Olson home in Cushing, Maine. Christina became his muse for the next three decades, most famously portrayed in Christina’s World (1948, Museum of Modern Art).
This final portrait of Christina was painted just half a year before her death in January of 1968. It is remarkable in its bluntness, with her sidelong, inscrutable gaze conveying both her independence and implicit trust in the artist. Christina’s demise, along with that of her brother just one month earlier, brought an end to Wyeth’s preoccupation with the Olson family and property, and prompted him to search for new subjects.
ProvenancePrivate collection, New York City and Amagansett, Long Island, 1969; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [partial interest], 1970; private collection, East Hampton, Long Island [remaining interest], 1990 (?)