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Previous Issues > September 2006 > All About Art > Grandma Moses
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 All About Art
Grandma Moses
Grandma Moses, a famous American folk artist, was born September 7, 1860. She died in 1961 at the age of 101. Gradma Moses wasnt always known as Grandma. When she was little, she was called Sissy, but her real name was Anna Mary Robertson Moses. She started painting in her seventies after giving up embroidery because of arthritis.
Folk art is hard to describe, but it is art that is made by self-taught artists. These people have no formal education in art. Grandma Moses art is also called primitive. She often painted landscapes and scenes of rural life. Figures in her paintings were simple, flat shapes. When Grandma Moses first began painting, she didnt have very good art supplies. Sometimes she used household items, such as a match or a straight pin to add tiny details to the paintings. She also liked to put glitter on her paintings of snow scenes to make them sparkle.
Grandma Moses art was first noticed by a collector who saw her paintings in the window of a New York drugstore in 1938. She became very famous and had exhibitions of her work all over Europe and in Japan. Her artwork was even on Hallmark greeting cards and was used in advertising campaigns. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman presented her with the Womens National Press Club Award for outstanding accomplishment in art. For her 100th birthday, she was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine.
Sources: Grandma Moses: The Artist Behind the Myth by Jane Kallir; Wikipedia, Grandma Moses.
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