Andrew Wyeth July 12th, 1917- January 16th, 2009

Andrew Wyeth, 1948
Tempera on gessoedd panel
81.9 × 121.3 cm, 32¼ × 47¾ in
Museum of Modern Art, New York City

Andrew Wyeth, one of this country's best known artists, died in his sleep in Chadd's Ford, Pa. on Jan. 16th. He was 91.

My first visit to the MOMA I saw "Christina's World" and I will say it was one of the first pieces I had seen in a museum that moved me; I felt I could relate to the girl unsettled far from the home in the distance.

"The woman crawling through the tawny grass was the artist's neighbor in Maine, who, crippled by polio, "was limited physically but by no means spiritually." Wyeth further explained, "The challenge to me was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless." He recorded the arid landscape, rural house, and shacks with great detail, painting minute blades of grass, individual strands of hair, and nuances of light and shadow. In this style of painting, known as magic realism, everyday scenes are imbued with poetic mystery."