The Olson House: A Photographer’s Visit in Search of a Painter’s Inspiration

Artist Andrew Wyeth loved this place (and these people) so much, he chose to spend eternity here

Renowned American artist Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) made hundreds of works of art at his summer home in Cushing, Maine — including his most famous painting of all — Christina’s World (1948).

I have long loved Wyeth’s work and have counted his paintings (especially his Kuerner’s Farm work) as influences on my photography work, so for me, this visit feels a bit like a pilgrimage. Also, as an artist myself, it’s fascinating to see what places, people, and things have inspired great artists to make art.

Christina’s World  has been analyzed and described in countless places, so I won’t discuss it here.

Rather, I will offer a history of the house.

The Olson House — Cushing, Maine

To get to the house, I weaved my rental car along the uncrowded, serpentine roads of mid-coastal Maine. It was early May and the forests still hadn’t leafed-out.

What a visitor discovers amongst the trees and vast mowed lawns is a big imposing wooden farmhouse.

The Olson House was made famous by American Artist Andrew Wyeth, who was a part-time neighbor to the Olsons. Christina Olson was the mysterious girl in the grass in Christina’s World . She shared the house with her brother Alvaro Olson who was also rendered into many of Wyeth’s works of art.

The house was built in the late 1700s by ship Captain Samuel Hathorn II, who was born about 1750. Samuel Hathorn served during the Revolutionary War against Britain in 1780.

The house received major alterations in 1871 by Hathorn’s grandson, Captain Samuel Hathorn IV. 

Christina and Alvaro Olson inherited the property in 1929 from their mother Katie Hathorn, who was a descendant of Captain Hathorn.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and in 2011 it was designated as a National Historic Landmark. The property is now owned by the Farnsworth Museum and it is temporarily closed for renovation, although normally it maintains visitation hours during the week. Visitors are allowed to walk the property.

Most of the time, that big 14-room house just sits empty — silent.

The romantic in me wonders if the ghost of Christina Olson haunts the house.

Christina’s Meadow

Across the paved road from the big house is a broad, rolling meadow that slopes downward to the scenic estuary and cove. That’s the grassy meadow where Wyeth placed Christina in the painting. One thing that’s clear to a visitor seeking the original vantage point of the artist —  either Wyeth simplified the composition to focus on just the three main elements — Christina, the barn, and the house, or a lot of trees have grown up here since 1948. The hilltop is not devoid of trees as shown in Christina’s World.

It’s a well-known fact that the Christina figure in the painting was actually modeled by Wyeth’s wife, Betsy, and modified later to look more like Christina. Christina Olson suffered from a degenerative muscular disorder that caused her to require a wheel chair, which she refused to use, choosing instead to pull herself around on the ground or floor. That’s why Wyeth portrayed her sitting on the ground.

Andrew Wyeth’s Burial in Hathorn Cemetery

Below Christina’s meadow, on a promontory overlooking the water is the small Hathorn Cemetery, final resting place of Christina and Alvaro Olson, but also none-other-than Andrew Wyeth and his wife Betsy.

Black and White Photographs Made at the Olson House

Below are some of the black and white photographs I made on location at the Olson House in Maine.