Artist:
Andrew Wyeth
(American, 1917 - 2009)
Sitter:
Siri Erickson
Siri
Medium: Tempera on panel
Date: 1970
Dimensions:
30 1/2 × 30 in. (77.5 × 76.2 cm)
Accession number: 75.1.3
Copyright: © Brandywine Museum of Art
Label Copy:
Following the death of Christina Olson in early 1968, Wyeth felt a deep sense of loss, not only emotionally but also as an artist. Young Siri Erickson of Cushing, Maine, would fill this void. Wyeth first met the Erickson family—which included George, his wife Siri, and their teenage daughter Siri—in the summer of 1967. Like the Olson and Kuerner families, the Ericksons appealed to Wyeth in their simple, stark existences. He was especially intrigued by young Siri and came to see her as “a burst of life, like spring coming through the ground, a rebirth of something fresh out of death.”
Following the death of Christina Olson in early 1968, Wyeth felt a deep sense of loss, not only emotionally but also as an artist. Young Siri Erickson of Cushing, Maine, would fill this void. Wyeth first met the Erickson family—which included George, his wife Siri, and their teenage daughter Siri—in the summer of 1967. Like the Olson and Kuerner families, the Ericksons appealed to Wyeth in their simple, stark existences. He was especially intrigued by young Siri and came to see her as “a burst of life, like spring coming through the ground, a rebirth of something fresh out of death.”
Curatorial RemarksAndrew Wyeth began painting Siri Erickson, the daughter of a Finnish farmer in Maine, after the death of Christina Olson, his close friend and the model for his well-known painting Christina’s World. He viewed Siri as a contrast to Christina, one young and beginning life while the other had faded away. Siri’s face exhibits both youth and maturity. With her pink freckled cheeks, she looks off to the side with a calm expression, alone with her thoughts as she poses for this portrait. Wyeth placed the subject low in the picture, emphasizing her youth. The beautifully rendered white woodwork behind the figure appears freshly painted. Wyeth had an amazing technical ability, using egg tempera to capture the highlights on individual strands of hair and layering small brushstrokes of varied color to create the texture and tone of the young girl’s skin.