Background checks for artworks

In my previous post, I talked about pianist and composer Brahms and the meanings behind his works. One question that popped up in my mind was this

“How does knowing more about the social, cultural or historical context of a work of art have an impact on our knowledge of art itself?”

I believe that knowing more about an artwork’s background is important in understanding the message that the artist is trying to convey. For example, let’s take the painting “Christina’s world”. At a first glance, the painting looks very simple and non symbolic.

It’s just a painting of a girl in a dress lying on a grass field, starring at a house. But if you look up the background of the image, we learn that the girl is the painter Andrew Wyeth’s neighbour, Anna Christina Olson. Olson developed a muscle degenerative disorder that left her unable to walk. Due to her refusal to use a wheelchair, Olson usually dragged herself everywhere she went and longed to walk. Here, her longing to walk inside her home can be seen and she lies spewed on the floor helpless, with her hands across and forward of her trying to reach the mansion that lies away from her. In an interview, Wyeth explained and quoted  “The challenge to me was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless”. Upon knowing this justification, the audience understands the true value of the painting and can now be certain about that they interpret.

On the contrary, I also believe that a part of the personal knowledge that we might gain here might be lost. On knowing the value of the painting, usually the audience stop trying to interpret the artwork and bring their own opinions to play. Art is a subjective topic and here some of that subjectivity is lost. People often forget their beliefs, opinions and interpretations upon knowing facts and this case is an example of it.