greatunknownpub

greatunknownpub t1_je9nd4y wrote

> Wyeth’s neighbor Anna Christina Olson inspired the composition, which is one of four paint­ings by Wyeth in which she appears. As a young girl, Olson developed a degenerative muscle condition—possibly polio—that left her unable to walk. She refused to use a wheelchair, preferring to crawl, as depicted here, using her arms to drag her lower body along. “The challenge to me,” Wyeth explained, “was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless.”

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78455

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greatunknownpub t1_j6bipen wrote

That’s some real trauma, especially as a 2nd grader. I experienced it too. I was in 6th grade and lived in Melbourne, Florida about 30 miles from KSC. I remember going to school that morning and it being one of the coldest days I’d ever experienced in Florida. I usually rode my bike to school but my dad drove me that day because it was so cold. We went outside and watched it live like we usually did, but we all knew something had gone terribly wrong this time. No one could focus for the rest of the day.

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