Alvaro’s World: Andrew Wyeth and the Olson House

From 1938 to 1968, Andrew Wyeth spent time in and around the Olson House, a saltwater farm in Cushing, Maine. The artist became well acquainted with the family, often painting and sketching them and the house in what is known today as one of his most impressive bodies of work, in which the Olson children, Alvaro and Christina, recur as subjects. This exhibition examines the perspective of Alvaro Olson, an unsung hero who managed the 1870s farmhouse and cared for his sister through Wyeth’s watercolors. In the works on view, Wyeth captures Alvaro’s commitment to life on this remote peninsula, during a time when the Olsons were faced with rural poverty, environmental challenges, and regular upkeep of the farm.

The exhibition is drawn primarily from the Marunuma Art Park Collection in Asaka, Japan.