Detail of Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth in the Museum of Modern Art, August 2007

Andrew Wyeth. (American, born 1917). Christina's World. 1948. Tempera on gessoed panel, 32 1/4 x 47 3/4" (81.9 x 121.3 cm). Purchase

Gallery label text
2007

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.

Text from: moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=78455