Born On: September 7, 1860
Born In: Greenwich, New York
Died On: December 13, 1961
Career: Painter
Nationality: American
A prolific painter, Anna Mary Robertson Moses or Granma Moses, as she is popularly known as, was one of America’s best known primitive painters. Inspired by her childhood memories, she depicted the rural life, portraying homely farm life and countryside through simple realism, nostalgic atmosphere and luminous color. This exceptional quality, of bringing life to the paintings on canvas, won her a wide fan following of art lovers. Though she began her career at an advanced age, Grandma Moses gained great recognition and fame in the field of art.
Childhood, Early Life & Marriage
Born on September 7, 1860, in Greenwich, New York, Anna Mary Robertson was the third child, out of ten, of Russell King Robertson and Margaret Shannahan. Born in a farmer’s family, she spent most of her time in the family farms, working hard. Anna experienced a happy childhood. All her siblings shared her love for drawing. Their father bought them large sheets of blank newspaper, on which they could draw. Anna attended school only during summers, due to lack of proper winter clothes. It was in her twelfth year that she started earning a living; she worked at homes as a hired girl near the family farm. In 1887, Anna tied the nuptial knot with Thomas S. Moses, a farm worker. The couple set off for a farm in Virginia. They had 10 children, out of which only five survived.
First Painting
One of the best known primitive painters in America, Anna had never formally learnt how to paint. Painting was an in-born talent in her. Though Anna painted a lot during her childhood, it was not until after two decades of marriage that she painted again. Along with her family, she had shifted base to Eagle Bridge in New York. It was, there, that Anna made her first painting. While wallpapering her parlor, Anna ran short of paper. To fill in the gap Anna painted a scene on a white paper and hung it in the area. The painting still hangs in the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont.
Later Life
As Anna grew old, farm work proved to be a difficult task for her. As a result, she resorted to embroidering pictures in yarn to fill her spare time. When she turned 76, she was struck by arthritis. It was during this time that Anna went back to something which she loved doing as a kid - painting. She started off by imitating scenes that she found illustrated in books and on Currier and Ives prints. In 1938, Louis Caldor, an art collector and engineer, discovered Grandma Moses paintings. He was on a holiday when he saw the paintings on the window of a drug store in Hoosick Falls, New York. He was awestruck by the art and immediately bought all the paintings Grandma Moses had at her farm.
The first public display of Grandma Moses paintings was in the ‘Contemporary Unknown Painters’ show, at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Next in line was her sole show at the New York City, which gained her immediate recognition, fame and praise. In a span of five years, Grandma Moses’s paintings etched in the minds of art lovers. Her style was very simple and ordinary - a reflection of the country scenes and nature that brought a revival in the minds of people. The colors used in the painting also reflected their own story - white depicted winters, dark green stood for summers, lighter shades of green signified spring and brown represented autumn.
Grandma Moses always painted from her experience, portraying her childhood memories on the canvas. Her reminiscence of the former days was the only inspiration for Grandma Moses, which can be clearly seen in her pictures, which show people actively engaged in farm tasks. Another very strong characteristic of her paintings was the depiction of joy, happiness and pleasure everywhere. None of her paintings ever had even the slightest glimpse of despair, unhappiness or aging. Among her most popular paintings are The Old Oaken Bucket, Over the River to Grandma's House, Sugaring Off, and Catching the Turkey.
Awards & Honor
Grandma Moses’s painting ‘The Old Checkered Inn’ featured in the background of a national advertising campaign, for the young women's lip gloss Primitive Red, by Du Barry cosmetics, in 1946. She was awarded Women's National Press Club trophy Award, for her outstanding accomplishment in art, in 1949. Grandma Moses was also seen in a TV show, ‘See It Now’. Her autobiography titled ‘Grandma Moses: My Life's History’ was published in the year 1952. On the 100th birthday of Moses, New York Governor, Nelson Rockefeller proclaimed the day as ‘Grandma Moses Day’, to honor the artistically gifted and talented woman. In 2006, much after her death, her work ‘Sugaring Off’ became her highest selling work, selling for US$1.2 million. ‘Fourth of July’, which she painted in honor of President Eisenhower, still hangs in the White House.
Death
Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961, at the age of 101. After a fall at her home, she was admitted to the Hoosick Falls Health Center. The doctors described "hardening of the arteries" as the reason for her death.
