From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
LB2017.19.65188
Contact sheet: (12) 120mm frames showing scenes from Ruohomaa's visit to Cushing, Maine, in the summer of 1951. Views include Andrew Wyeth posing with Alvaro Olson at the Olson property. Alvaro was the brother of Anna Christina Olson, who in turn was the subject of Wyeth's iconic 1948 painting, "Christina's World" (Wyeth composed the painting in front of the Olson Homestead). Ruohomaa met American realist painter Andrew Wyeth in 1947 through their mutual acquaintance, the sculptor George Curtis. The two enjoyed a long friendship and had a few eccentric adventures (see "Kosti Ruohomaa: Andrew Wyeth Collects a Hearse" and "Kosti Ruohomaa: Andrew Wyeth's Deserted House"). Arguably, they also shared some artistic affinities. For example, each had his own way of imbuing otherwise ordinary scenes with complex emotion, and both men often seemed to view their subjects as elemental forces. The painter invited the photographer to his family's summer home in Cushing, Maine for a visit of several days in June and July of 1951. The occasion yielded some notable portraits of Wyeth and his family; in effect, Ruohomaa was able to study Wyeth in one of his native habitats.
