Wind from the SeaAndrew Newell Wyeth · 1947

Identification of Wind from the Sea

Wind from the Sea is a 1947 painting by the American artist Andrew Wyeth. The work presents an interior view looking out through an open attic window. A west wind enters the space, catching thin, tattered lace curtains and causing them to blow into the room. The scene captures a specific moment of movement within a quiet, domestic setting.

The composition was inspired by a breeze encountered at the Olson house on the coast of Maine. While working in an attic room, the artist observed the way the wind animated the frayed fabric. This observation led to a series of studies in various materials before the final work was realized. The resulting image focuses on the interaction between the interior atmosphere and the landscape visible beyond the window frame.

Composition and Visual Elements

The composition is structured around an open dormer window located in an abandoned third-floor attic room. A west wind enters through this opening, catching thin, frayed lace curtains and causing them to billow into the interior space. Within the movement of the fabric, delicate crocheted birds flutter, caught in the sudden draft. These organic, shifting shapes contrast with the rigid, geometric lines of the window frame.

Beyond the window, the landscape recedes toward a forested horizon. A cemetery is visible in the distance, situated where the land meets the trees. The view establishes a direct connection between the quiet, decaying interior and the external environment. The arrangement of the window, the drifting lace, and the distant horizon creates a layered perspective of the Maine coast.

The History and Provenance of the Work

The painting was acquired by Clay Bartlett in Manchester, Vermont, in January 1947. Following this, the work was sold to Charles Hill Morgan in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1952. These early transactions established the piece within private collections for several decades.

After the death of Morgan in 1984, the painting was placed on loan to the Mead Art Museum of Amherst College. This arrangement lasted for 25 years. In 2009, the work was donated to the National Gallery of Art.

Documented Interpretations and Symbolism

Wyeth intended the work to function as a symbolic portrait of Christina Olson. Within this visual metaphor, the rigid geometry of the window frame represents Christina's resiliency. In contrast, the decaying, tattered curtains reflect her physical disability. The delicate crocheted birds caught in the breeze suggest a sense of surviving femininity despite frailty.

The landscape visible through the opening carries a somber weight. The view looks toward a cemetery where Christina, her husband Alvaro, and Wyeth himself would eventually be buried. This connection between the interior domestic space and the external landscape of death links the themes of memory and the passage of time.