"Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth, 1948
This painting and The Scream are the first two pieces of 'Art' I can remember being exposed to in any formal way. I've always felt a tension associated with this one. Some unspoken, tightrope taut, barely concealed tension. Looking at the way the hands touch the ground, the set of the knuckles, gives me a bit of anxiety.
I think it's a very disturbing image, personally.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. When our art teacher was talking about symbolism and other kids were like 'oh she's about to go into the house for a snack' I think I said something like, 'It's really sad, it looks like she might have trouble seeing and can't find her way back home.'
The subject, Christina, had a degenerative muscle disorder and she refused to use a wheel chair. She would drag herself around the property. Here is a nice write up on the piece:Andrew Wyeth painted this in 1948. His father, N. C. Wyeth, had been killed at a railway crossing just three years earlier, and Andrew's work underwent a significant change after the loss. His palette became muted, his landscapes barren and his figures--if present--seemed plaintive. Christina's World epitomizes these traits, and conveys the impression that it is an outward expression of Wyeth's inner grief.