Fiche auteur Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth[pic 1]

Christina’s World, Andrew Wyeth

Biography: Andrew Wyeth was born in 1917 and died in 2009 in Pennsylvania. His wife, Betsey James, helped him in his work, by becoming his business manager and shaping his public image. Wyeth was known since he used a particular technique:  the egg tempera technique. He would use an egg to mix water and oils, which means his paintings  dry very quickly. That’s why this technique was very hard to master.

Andrew Wyeth was also well-known thanks to the details there were in his paintings. Indeed, he would often stay close to home, so he would know his subjects very well. His work was noticeably realist.

Painting: I chose Christina’s World first of all because it was Wyeth’s most famous painting. Christina was a handicapped friend of his wife, who he saw falling on the ground. I find this painting delightful because it seems to epitomize the loneliness of this woman in her life, in her disability. On can also consider that Christina represents all the women who couldn’t reach their goals at the time; because of discrimination, they weren’t helped to do so, just like Christina in this painting. It is also a claim for the rights of handicapped people.

What’s more, the colors on this painting are less dark than Wyeth’s other paintings, maybe because he painted it after the end of the war, in 1948.

Influence: his father, N.C. Wyeth, the famed illustrator. N.C. was a major, sometimes frightening presence in the household who guided his son's artistic talents and skill.

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