LB2017.19.1511

LB2017.19.1511

Andrew Wyeth poses with Alvaro Olson, brother of Anna Christina Olson, who was the subject of Wyeth's iconic 1948 painting, "Christina's World". The pair sit on the steps of the ell between the Olsons' house and barn, looking off to the right of the frame; Olson, at right, is dressed in work clothes (leather boots, suspenders, wool shirt, newsboy cap). The aforementioned painting includes a view of the Olson farmhouse in the background. 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.