Did Christina Olson Have Polio?
Sunday July 12, 2009
Let me answer the question right away:
1. I don't know.
2. Neither does anyone else.
If you're wondering what possessed me to ask this question in the first place, it involved researching a background piece on Christina's World. I saw quite a few mentions online that Christina Olson, the inspiration for Andrew Wyeth's painting, "...had polio." Since so many people (especially students) take their information directly from the Internet and at face value, I'd like to put it out there that Christina Olson might have had polio but never got her degenerative muscular condition diagnosed. No diagnosis means that polio cannot be stated as fact.
Speaking of facts, students, I know that some of you copy and paste your art history papers. I know it, you know it and, most importantly, your instructors know it ... and here's hoping their constantly-upgrading plagiarism software databases catch every suspect passage. My point is this, though: if cheating is your goal, the very least you can do is attempt to rip off accurate material. Don't be irredeemably selfish. Think instead of all the other cheaters who'll be copying your copying. No sense perpetuating a half-truth, now, is there?
In sum, do not write that Christina Olson of Christina's World fame had polio. By the way, I couldn't help but notice that Miss Olson is also often cited as the model for this painting. Another half-truth! Some of you might want to read "A Closer Look at Christina's World."
Image Credit:
Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917-2009)
Christina's World, 1948
Tempera on gessoed panel
32 1/4 x 47 3/4 in. (81.9 x 121.3 cm)
Purchase
Courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York
© Andrew Wyeth
Comments
I actually do remember when I first show this “painting”. It was on the wall of a new friend, in the early 70’s. She had done a rendering of it for an art class. She loved it and its artists, and helps to teach me about what it really was, other than a pretty picture.
What a nice memory, Starr. I first saw a reproduction of Christina’s World at my Grammie’s house when I was, oh, maybe 5, 6 or 7 … some very young age. I remember just feeling so sad, thinking she *wanted to* but could not reach the shelter of that house.
Also, the way the house was composed to sit on the crest of the hill made it look a lot like my great-grandparents’ farm near DuBois, Pennsylvania, a setting I had only actually been to once or twice at that point. So (of course) I was additionally upset that whomever this woman was had been abandoned in the family hayfield while everyone else was obviously in the house eating supper. Wondering why my beloved Grammie had somebody paint a picture immortalizing this cruel injustice seriously blew my little kid mind.
Funny, the things you remember and the emotions you carry throughout life. I think back on many occasions like this and tell my puzzled Inner Child, “If only someone had asked you what you were thinking about…”