July 12, 1917-January 16, 2009.
Andrew Wyeth spent most of his days between Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and Cushing, Maine. His family had a summer home in Maine and he used this as inspiration for many of his paintings.
In Rockland, Maine, there is a wonderful art museum called the Farnsworth that has many paintings exhibited there by Andrew and his son, artist Jamie Wyeth. When you purchase a ticket for the museum you can also purchase a ticket for the Olson house. The Olson house is in Cushing, Maine, about a 20 minute ride from the Farnsworth Museum.
The Olson house and it's occupants, Alvaro and Christina Olson (siblings), were painted and sketched by Andrew Wyeth hundreds of times. Going to the house in person is a humbling experience. It is pretty much empty, just some sparse furnishings left. Once there you can wander about throughout the house and dream.....
When we were there, I took some photos from specific vantage points in and out of the house that tried to capture the images Andrew painted and studied.
Here are some of those photos I took, placed in a book I have about Andrew Wyeth.
Click to enlarge the photos so that you can see them better.
If you are ever in that area in Maine, take the time to visit these wonderful sites.
In a moment when I thought I was being clever, I put myself in what I thought was a Christina pose in front of the Olson house. (oops, I had it backwards.) So much has grown up around the house since this painting was done it was virtually impossible to put myself into the spot where he put Christina.
This is the Olson house taken from the dirt road.
These are photos taken from inside the kitchen. The famous rocker where Christina Olson spent many hours rocking in front of the woodstove.
This is a photo I took from one of the upstairs bedrooms looking east onto the roof of the kitchen.
This is a photo of the kitchen window from outside in the front yard.
I purchased this book shortly after I went to see an Andrew Wyeth exhibit in New York City many years ago. I have used it repeatedly for reference and inspiration over the years.
So rest in peace, Andrew Newell Wyeth.
