Olson House | |
Nearest city | Hathorne Point Road, Cushing, Maine |
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Coordinates | 43°58′54″N69°16′07″W / 43.98167°N 69.26861°W |
Architectural style | Colonial |
NRHP reference No. | 93001114 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 31, 1995 |
Designated NHL | June 23, 2011 |
Olson House is a 14-room Colonial farmhouse in Cushing, Maine. The house was made famous by its depiction in Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World . The house and its occupants, Christina and Alvaro Olson, were depicted in numerous paintings and sketches by Wyeth from 1939 to 1968. The house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in June 2011. The Farnsworth Art Museum owns the house; it is open to the public.
The Hathorn-Olson House was built in the late 1700s by Captain Samuel Hathorn II (b abt. 1750). The house was substantially altered in 1871 by Captain Samuel Hathorn IV (1822–1892). The 1871 alterations included the addition of several bedrooms on the third floor and the construction of a steeply pitched roof. [1] The property was inherited in 1929 by Christina Olson and Alvaro Olson from their mother Katie Hathorn (b. Feb. 15 1858 - d. Nov. 1929), a descendant of Captain Hathorn. [1]
Between 1939 and 1968, the house was depicted in paintings and sketches by the American artist Andrew Wyeth, including his 1948 masterpiece, Christina's World . [2] Wyeth was inspired to paint Christina's World by the story of Christina Olson, who had lost the use of her legs to, at the time unknown, Charcot—Marie—Tooth disease. [3]
Wyeth befriended the Olsons and maintained a studio in the house. Wyeth later recalled, "I just couldn't stay away from there. I did other pictures while I knew them but I'd always seem to gravitate back to the house." [1] Christina and Alvaro Olson lived at the house until they died in 1968 and 1967, respectively. The Olsons, as well as Andrew Wyeth, are buried in the Olson family cemetery on the property.
After Christina's death, the house was purchased in 1968 by movie director Joseph E. Levine, who was an admirer of Wyeth's work. [4] [5] Levine operated the house as a museum for two years starting in 1971 but the operation met with opposition from local residents. [6] In 1974, Levine announced that he would give the property to the State of Maine, [7] but Levine withdrew the offer in 1975 over concerns that the state lacked funding to maintain the property. [8] [9] The house was purchased by Apple Inc. CEO John Sculley, who put the house up for sale in 1989. [10] [11] Sculley eventually donated the house to the Farnsworth Art Museum in 1991. [1]
The Olson House remains under the ownership of the Farnsworth Art Museum, which maintains it as a facility that is open for public visitation. Farnsworth executive director Christopher Brownawell noted, "This nondescript saltwater farmhouse and its connecting structure has become one of the most recognized images in American art." [12]
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2011. [12] [13]
Cushing is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,502 at the 2020 census. A favorite of artists for its unspoiled natural setting, Cushing includes the villages of North Cushing, Cushing, South Cushing, and Pleasant Point.
Andrew Newell Wyeth was an American visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He believed he was also an abstractionist, portraying subjects in a new, meaningful way. The son of N. C. Wyeth and father of Jamie Wyeth, he was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century. James H. Duff explores the art and lives of the three men in An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art. Raised with an appreciation of nature, Wyeth took walks that fired his imagination. Henry David Thoreau, Robert Frost, and King Vidor's The Big Parade (1925) inspired him intellectually and artistically. Wyeth featured in a documentary The Metaphor in which he discussed Vidor's influence on the creation of his works of art, like Winter 1946 and Portrait of Ralph Kline. Wyeth was also inspired by Winslow Homer and Renaissance artists.
Newell Convers Wyeth, known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books — 25 of them for Scribner's, the Scribner Classics, which is the body of work for which he is best known. The first of these, Treasure Island, was one of his masterpieces and the proceeds paid for his studio. Wyeth was a realist painter at a time when the camera and photography began to compete with his craft. Sometimes seen as melodramatic, his illustrations were designed to be understood quickly. Wyeth, who was both a painter and an illustrator, understood the difference, and said in 1908, "Painting and illustration cannot be mixed—one cannot merge from one into the other."
James Browning Wyeth is an American realist painter, son of Andrew Wyeth, and grandson of N.C. Wyeth. He was raised in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania, and is artistic heir to the Brandywine School tradition — painters who worked in the rural Brandywine River area of Delaware and Pennsylvania, portraying its people, animals, and landscape.
Christina's World is a 1948 painting by American painter Andrew Wyeth and one of the best-known American paintings of the mid-20th century. It is a tempera work done in a realist style, depicting a woman semi-reclining on the ground in a treeless, mostly tawny field, looking up at a gray house on the horizon, a barn, and various other small outbuildings are adjacent to the house. It is held by the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.
The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, and his family: his father N.C. Wyeth, illustrator of many children's classics; his sister Ann Wyeth McCoy, a composer and painter; and his son Jamie Wyeth, a contemporary American realist painter.
The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine, United States, is an art museum that specializes in American art. Its permanent collection includes works by such artists as Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Eastman Johnson, Fitz Henry Lane, Frank Benson, Childe Hassam, Will Barnet, and Maurice Prendergast, as well as a significant collection of works by the 20th-century sculptor Louise Nevelson. Four galleries are devoted to contemporary art.
The N. C. Wyeth House and Studio is a historic house museum and artist's studio on Murphy Road in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania, United States. Beginning with its construction in 1911, it served as the principal home and studio of artist N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945). It was restored to its original appearance around the time of his death. The property is managed by the Brandywine River Museum, which offers tours. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1997.
The Ogunquit Museum of American Art is a small art museum located on the coast in Ogunquit, Maine. The museum houses over 3,000 pieces in its permanent collection.
Tenants Harbor Light, also known as Southern Island Light, is a lighthouse at the mouth of Tenants Harbor, St. George, Maine, United States. It appears in paintings by Andrew Wyeth and his son Jamie Wyeth, who have owned the lighthouse since 1978.
Linda Lorraine Bean was an American businessperson and donor. As a candidate of the Republican Party, Bean ran unsuccessfully for the United States Congress in 1988 and 1992. She was the granddaughter of Leon Leonwood Bean and an heiress to the L.L.Bean company.
The Kuerner Farm, also known as Ring Farm, is an historic farm which is located in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, United States. It is notable for its association with artist Andrew Wyeth, who created about one-third of his work, more than 1,000 paintings and drawings, on subjects he found there during a span of seventy-seven years.
Olson House may refer to:
Zillman Art Museum-University of Maine (ZAM) is an art museum in downtown Bangor, Maine. It is part of the University of Maine, which is located in nearby Orono, Maine. The University of Maine Art Collection was established in 1946, under the leadership of Vincent Hartgen. As the initial faculty member of the Department of Art and curator of the art collection, Hartgen's goal was to provide the people of Maine with significant opportunities to experience and learn about the visual arts and their diverse histories and cultural meanings.
Wind from the Sea is a 1947 painting by the American artist Andrew Wyeth. It depicts an inside view of an open attic window as the wind blows the thin and tattered curtains into the room.
American composer, pianist and painter Ann Wyeth McCoy was the youngest daughter of artist-illustrator N.C. Wyeth and the fourth of his five children. She was born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
Maidenhair is a 1974 painting by the American artist Andrew Wyeth. It depicts a young bride-to-be sitting alone in the Old German Meeting House in Waldoboro, Maine.
Reynolds Thomas was an American realist painter. His work was often compared to that of Andrew Wyeth. He was the first American artist commissioned by the Vatican to paint a portrait of the pope. Princess Grace of Monaco, an admirer of Thomas's work, commissioned him to make several paintings, including a full-length portrait of the princess, for which he is best known and to have won several awards. He was listed in “Who's Who of American Art” and in the “International Register Artists of Europe”.
Otherworld is a 2002 painting by American artist Andrew Wyeth. The painting depicts Andrew Wyeth's wife and manager, Betsy Wyeth, looking out the window of private jet. Andrew had originally titled the painting Betsy's World in reference to his famous painting Christina's World, but it was renamed Otherworld by Betsy. Visible through windows of the plane are two places commonly featured in Andrew's work: Out the left window is the Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and out the right window is the Olson House in Cushing, Maine. The painting's content is unusual for Wyeth, as he rarely depicted twentieth century technology or settings.
Betsy James Wyeth was an author and art collector, who was also the business manager and archivist of her husband, artist Andrew Wyeth.