The weather-beaten farmhouse that inspired one of the best known paintings from the mid-20th century is now a national landmark.

The Olson House in Cushing, where Andrew Wyeth painted “Christina’s World,” was designated a national historic landmark Thursday by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

Additional Photos

The Olson House in Cushing is operated by Rockland's Farnsworth Museum and is open to the public during the summer months. The historic farm is where artist Andrew Wyeth created many of his paintings, including his well known "Christina's World." Staff file photo

The designation gives the home national prominence and is likely to drive up the number of visits to the home, which is owned and operated by the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland.

Also on Thursday’s landmark list was the Kuerner Farm in Delaware County, Pa., where Wyeth completed more than 1,000 paintings.

Salazar said in a press release that the 14 properties selected nationwide played integral roles in the country’s history.

Built by a seafaring family in the late 1700s, the Olson House overlooks the St. George River and Muscongus Bay. It was given to the Farnsworth Art Museum in 1991.

Wyeth summered in Cushing for 30 years. During that time he got to know Christina Olson and her brother, Alvaro, who lived in the farmhouse. They let him use an upstairs room as a studio.

In 1948, Wyeth painted Christina crawling through a field toward the farm. At that point in her life, she suffered from a neurological disorder that prevented her from walking.

“It literally, overnight, became a major work of American art. People were in awe of this painting,” said Earle Shettleworth, the state’s historian. “(Wyeth) continued to concentrate on painting scenes in the finite world that surrounded this house.”

Shettleworth said the Olson House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Landmark designations are harder to come by.

Shettleworth said that while nearly 1,500 properties in Maine are on the National Register, only 50 have landmark status, including the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and the Victoria Mansion in Portland, and the Blaine House in Augusta.

“We feel the (Olson) house is an American treasure and one that is terribly important to us,” said Christopher Brownawell, executive director of the Farnsworth Art Museum. “It’s a celebrated house and it deserves this recognition.”

The Olson Home, on Hathorne Point Road in Cushing, will remain open for tours through Oct. 30. Tours, which cost $10 per person, will run Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Farnsworth Museum also has an exhibit of about 50 Wyeth watercolors and drawings depicting Alvaro and Christina Olson and their life on the farm.

“Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World and the Olson House,” represents a collection of Wyeth artwork from the Marunuma Art Park in Asaka, Japan. The exhibit, which started June 11, will run through Oct. 30.

“Christina’s World” is on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

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