Grandma moses pictures look. How the primitive painting of Grandma Moses influenced the course of the Cold War

Interesting 01.07.2020

Interesting

checkered house

What can be in common between a French customs officer, the widow of an American farmer, a girl from a Ukrainian village? At first glance, nothing. But they are united by the fact that, each at one time, they took a brush in their hands and began to paint the world that they saw around them. Having no experience and art education, these unprofessional painters created original and poetic canvases. Such self-taught works, outwardly resembling children's drawings, but with a deep and metaphorical meaning, began to be called naive painting.

Anna Mary Moses

The first half of the 20th century was rich in original talents. But among all the representatives of naive painting, perhaps the most inspiring fate fell on the lot of Anna Mary Moses (1860 - 1961). In fact, for many, many years, nothing original in her life path did not have. The daughter of a poor farmer from the American outback, she received the most unpretentious education, and from the age of 12 she was forced to work for hire. Then her life developed in the same way as many other American women of the late 19th century: work on other people's farms, marriage, many years of trying to save money for their farm, the birth of ten children, five of whom did not live to see a year. Only by the age of 45 did Anna Moses' life gain some stability: the couple managed to buy a small farm and find their own house. True, the hard work from this became even more. In 1927, Mrs. Moses' husband died, and the farm was taken over by younger son. The health and age of the elderly widow no longer allowed her to work as before. But Anna herself was too active and positive a person to just sit in a rocking chair day after day. It was then that the most interesting began.

Let me help

At first, Grandma Moses spent hours of leisure on embroidery, but over the years, joint disease turned her favorite business into torment. And then, at the age of 76, the old woman picked up brushes. Of course, she did not set herself the goal of entering the history of naive painting, she just wanted to please her family and friends, and at the same time save on Christmas gifts.

Plots for paintings Anna Moses took from her life. She liked to paint rural landscapes, show the life of American farmers, depict views of her native town.

Thunderstorm

Like the works of many other representatives of naive painting, the canvases of Grandma Moses are distinguished by flatness, some distortion of perspective, and uncomplicated techniques. But all this, together with juicy spots of color, conveys a life-affirming feeling of inner creative freedom. It can be seen that the artist enjoyed the very process of creating a picture, not focusing on the result.

By a happy coincidence, the work of a cheerful old woman, which she generously presented to all her friends, came to the attention of collectors and art collectors. The first "real" exhibition of Mrs. Moses' work opened in 1940. At this time, the artist was already 80 years old. Unexpectedly for herself, Anna Moses found herself "in the stream" when her country faced the task of ideologically establishing itself in the world.

beautiful world

What touched and still touches the hearts of the naive painting of Grandma Moses? Her paintings, primitive at first glance, breathe such poetics and sincerity that it is difficult to remain indifferent. They depict scenes from the life that many dream of or remember with nostalgia. Honesty, simplicity and optimism capture the viewer. No wonder they say that a painting is a reflection of the artist's soul.

Anna Mary Moses lived a hundred and one years, and her life is not easy. But the fact that she managed to carry through all the years and give people her sincerity, optimism and desire to experiment is admirable.

Svetlana Vinogradova

Grandma Moses

Grandma Moses(English) Grandma Moses, real name Anna Mary Moses, nee Robertson, English Anna Mary Moses,b. Robertson; September 7, 1860 - December 13, 1961) - American amateur artist, one of the main representatives of the American pictorial primitivism.

She loved to draw from early childhood, but spent most of her life on a farm in New York State, being the wife of a farmer. She became the mother of five children. In her mature years, she was engaged in embroidery, but closer to the age of 70, this became difficult for her due to arthritis. After her husband's death in 1927 Anna Moses started painting again.

In 1938, a New York collector noticed a drawing by Anna Moses displayed in a pharmacy window in Hoosick Falls, where she lived. drawings throughout the year Moses began to appear in the New York gallery Saint-Étienne and attracted the attention of collectors and art lovers. During the 1940s Exhibitions Moses passed in many European countries and in Japan. In 1941, she received the New York State Prize, and in 1949, US President Harry Truman personally presented her with the National Women's Press Club Award. In 1952, her autobiography was published. In 1960, for the centenary Grandma Moses, her photograph, taken by renowned photojournalist Cornell Capa, was featured on the cover of Life magazine.

Painting Grandma Moses depicts rural landscapes and everyday scenes, often they are multi-figured and resemble children's drawings. Grandma Moses she preferred winter views, summer ones she wrote less often. One of the summer landscapes Moses , "Old Motley House, 1862" (work 1942), purchased from the author after creation for 110 US dollars, was sold in 2004 at an auction in Memphis for 60,000 dollars.

Biography

She was too old to work on the farm, and therefore entered the history of art.

Her birthdays were celebrated on the covers of Time and Life magazines, and the centenary became a holiday for the whole state of New York: Governor Nelson Rockefeller declared September 7, 1960 "the day of Grandma Moses ". President Truman personally invited her to visit White House. The Eisenhower administration commissioned her a painting as a gift to the president for the third anniversary of the inauguration...

Even such a self-promotion genius as Andy Warhol could not at one time boast of such public attention. She, without the slightest effort, became the most famous American artist of the twentieth century.

One critic said Anne Marie Moses : "The appeal of her paintings is that they depict a lifestyle that Americans love to believe exists, but which no longer exists." Her rural pastorals, scenes from the life of American farmers are charming and certainly deserve a place in the history of art. But in itself, naive painting has never been wildly popular anywhere.

The audience was struck not so much by the paintings as by herself. Grandma Moses, as journalists called her. She first took up the brush at an age when most people no longer expect any gifts of fate, but quietly live out their lives. The beginning artist was 76 years old.

She had seen almost nothing but a farm in her life. She was born on the outskirts of New York State, in Washington County. And to this day it is by no means the center of civilization, in 1860 it was a completely remote village.

Anna Marie considered her childhood happy, although the family of her parents, Robertson farmers, was not spoiled by prosperity. The girl managed to get only the simplest education: she learned to read and write, and nothing more. At the age of twelve, she became a servant to more fortunate neighbors.

Earning a piece of bread Anna Marie she almost missed her happiness, and got married only at the age of 27 (at that age, women were already considered hopeless old maids). It is difficult to call a brilliant party: Thomas Salmon Moses was the same hired worker, that is, penniless. But on their honeymoon, the young still went on a trip. Unless, of course, that's what you can call the search for a place where they pay more ...

The Moses returned to their native lands only after eighteen years - it took so much to save money to buy their land. And in 1905, the Moses settled on their own farm near the town of Eagle Bridge. Anna Marie and Thomas had five children by that time (five more died before reaching a year).

When Thomas Moses died of a heart attack in 1927, the youngest son took over the family farm. And old Mrs. Moses was suddenly out of work. There was too much free time.

Far from flirtatious, she later said in a TV interview: "I just couldn't sit in a rocking chair." Mrs. Moses took up embroidery, but a few years later, arthritis turned needlework into torture. And then the daughter invited her mother to draw ...

It was a very good time: at the end of the 30s, interest in self-taught artists "from the outback" flared up in America. They were favored by exhibition halls, most notably the recently opened New York Museum of Modern Art. There were also private collectors of "folk" art...

History is silent about what wind in 1938 brought the engineer Luis Kaldor to the provincial town of Husik Falls. But no matter what he was looking for in this outback, he stumbled upon paintings Anna Marie gathering dust in the window of a local pharmacy. Kaldor was so enamored that he sought out the author and purchased several works from her.

He even managed to push through three paintings Moses to the exhibition "Modern Unknown American Painters" at the Museum of Modern Art. True, the event was closed, held for specialists, and Kaldor had no experience of communicating with this public ...

However, a year later, fate brought the enthusiast to the owner of the new New York "Galerie St. Etienne" Otto Callier. Unlike the enthusiastic Kaldor, he was a professional in the art business. True, at that moment Kallir started from scratch: after the annexation of Austria by fascist Germany, he had to take his feet away from his homeland. A recent immigrant tried to stake out a place under the American sun. Kaldor brought him exactly what he needed.

In October 1940, a solo exhibition opened at the "Galerie St. Etienne" Anna Marie Moses - "What the farmer's wife draws."

The Second World War smoothly flowed into the Cold War. America, more than ever, needed its own art as an element of propaganda. And Grandma Moses unwittingly found herself at the forefront. She became one of the main participants in the traveling exhibitions that the US Information Service organized in war-ravaged Europe ...

However, the good reception of Moses' paintings in the Old World received a strange response in the artist's homeland. "Europeans like to think that Grandma Moses represents American art. They praise our naivety and honesty, but deny us the opportunity for full-fledged, sophisticated artistic expression. Grandma Moses “exactly what they expect from us, what they are willing to allow us,” wrote The New York Times in 1950.

By this time, the wind had changed in the US art world. For too long, professional painters have felt undeservedly overlooked by the Museum of Modern Art and others like it. The fight against the self-taught, in the end, was crowned with the success of professionals - by the end of the 40s, the interest of the American art market in "folk art" dried up. Moses remained the last bastion until critics attributed her popularity to the base tastes of the public and political games.

This opinion is so firmly rooted that by the beginning of the 21st century the name Moses was forgotten. And the anniversary exhibition, organized by the heirs of Otto Callier, the current owners of the "Galerie St. Etienne", was an unexpected and pleasant discovery for new generations of critics and viewers.

Critics broke spears around her name, and she lived quietly in her province. Health did not allow her to work on the farm - except to feed the chickens. And drawing became her job. For a quarter of a century Grandma Moses died when she was 101 years old) she created more than 1600 paintings, drawings, illustrations.

Grandma Moses cared little for the opinion of the artistic world. Recognition from the press and politicians was rather tiring than joyful - sometimes I had to leave my native places and go to some dirty, crowded New York. She was not worried that a lot of money was being made on her behalf: the artist's works were replicated in millions of postcards, stamps, posters... Grandma Moses It gave pleasure that it brings joy to someone.

She was happy: "I look back on my life as a completed day's work, and I'm happy with how it's done. Life is what we make it. It's always been that way, and that's how it always will be."

Having crossed the age limit of 60 years, many no longer expect any life-changing changes from life and quietly live out their lives. However, history knows many cases when older people achieved tremendous success at a very respectable age. Most often this happened when they took up brushes and paints. So, one of the most popular American artists of the middle of the twentieth century - Grandma Moses, who first painted a picture at the age of 76, by her 100th anniversary had a stunning worldwide fame as a painter and was embroiled in the intrigues of American propaganda.

Grandmother Moses (1860-1961), whose real name was Anna Mary Moses (Anna Mary Moses), nee Robertson, is a famous American amateur artist, one of the most famous representatives of primitivism in the history of US painting. A farmer's wife and mother of 10 children, five of whom died before reaching the age of one, she became famous when she was over eighty.

The story of this amazing woman passed the way from poverty to the heights of prosperity and fame, has always captivated and resonated in the hearts of millions of people around the world. The famous grandmother Moses has surpassed all records, becoming unimaginably famous and in demand. For a quarter of a century, the works of Anna Marie conquered not only all of continental America, Europe, but even the land of the rising sun - Japan.

Is it a joke - more than 30 expositions held in the States, ten in various countries The American continent, one on the Japanese islands and that's not counting the many European ones. Everywhere, the primitive works of the American artist were warmly received by both viewers and critics. In 1949, the President of the United States - Harry Truman - presented the famous old woman with the National Women's Press Club Award, and on her 100th anniversary, New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller declared September 7 "Grandma Moses Day". Her photographs were printed on the covers of Time and Life magazines, moreover, a crater on Venus is named after this fragile woman. Could a simple woman from a remote village ever dream of this. Well, of course not.

However, the most ordinary viewer was fascinated and amazed not so much by the artist's picturesque works as by the personality of Grandmother Moses herself (as the journalists called her), who lived a hard village life for a whole century. The artist died at the age of 101, leaving behind a legacy of 1600 paintings and drawings.

And that's how it all started...

Anna was born in the vicinity of New York State in 1860, in Washington County, which in those early years was a wilderness. In childhood, Anna Mary received an elementary education, learning only to read and write, which, however, was quite natural for the children of the poor of that time. In the future, hard rural hired labor awaited her from dawn to dusk for rich neighbors, to whom she was given into the service of an 11-year-old girl. And when Anna grew up, little changed in her life.

Having married the same hired worker, whose soul did not have a penny, for many years she had to work hard for the masters. And eighteen years passed before she and her husband were able to save money to purchase a piece of land and build their own farm. In 1905, the couple settled on their farm near small town Eagle Bridge. And by that time, the Moses couple already had five children.

Anna woke up before dawn, and after milking the cows, she hurried into the field. Her duties also included raising children, cleaning the house, washing, cooking dinners. The whole life of a poor woman was spent in hard work and care for loved ones. Therefore, her body quickly wore out, and she could no longer work physically in old age. In 1927, Anna's husband, Thomas Moses, died suddenly, and the younger son took over the business of the farm. And the mother, no longer able to manage the farm, became interested in embroidery. But soon this work became unbearable for her: excruciating joint pains deprived the woman of this occupation.

At the age of 76, a woman, on the advice of her daughter, decided to take up brushes and paints.
She generously gave her first works to relatives and friends of her fellow villagers. Thus, several works ended up on the walls of a local pharmacy. They were spotted by a passing engineer who collected paintings. He liked the primitive but very cute creations of the novice artist, and he bought several pictures from Grandma Moses for mere pennies. It happened in 1938. As it turned out later, this was her first step towards fame and popularity.

And it should be noted that the decision to take up painting was very opportune: the end of the 30s in the United States was exactly the time when interest in self-taught artists "from the outback" reached its climax. Their works were willingly exhibited in exhibition halls, and private galleries, as well as the Museum of Modern Art.

The appearance of an original artist in the firmament of American art caused a real sensation - the public literally fell in love with this "a thin, small, very simple and charming old woman with lively eyes, dressed in a simple black dress and a battered Victorian hat."

Over the next year, the drawings of Anna Moses, at the suggestion of the engineer Louis Kaldor, were successfully exhibited in one of the New York galleries and attracted considerable attention from collectors and art lovers.

In the second half of the 1940s, expositions of primitive works by Grandma Moses were sold out in many European countries, including Japan. In 1952, at the suggestion of the President of the country, her autobiography was published. And in 1960, on the centenary of the notorious grandmother, her photograph, taken by the famous photographer Cornell Capa, was placed on the cover of Life magazine.

The painting of Grandma Moses, dedicated to rural landscapes and everyday scenes from the life of peasants, is very reminiscent of children's drawings. The artist gave preference to winter views, she painted summer ones less often. And curiously, one of the first creations of Moses, sold by her to a passing collector for $10 in 1942, in 2004 increased in price at art auctions to 60 thousand dollars.

One critic commented on the work and popularity of Anne Marie Moses: "The attraction of her paintings is that they depict the lifestyle that Americans love to believe exists, but which no longer exists. Her rural pastorals, scenes from the life of American farmers are charming and certainly deserve a place in art history. Although she herself in itself, naive painting has never been very popular anywhere.

Grandma Moses "at the forefront" of American propaganda

After ending in 1945, World War II smoothly turned into a cold war of ideologies. The United States, more than ever, needed its own art as an element of propaganda. And Grandma Moses was forced to be "on the front line." Her work has become the centerpiece of the US Information Service's traveling exhibitions in war-torn Europe.

Sincerely and sincerely accepted by the European audience, the paintings of Anna Moses caused a considerable resonance in America itself. "Europeans like to think that Grandma Moses represents American art. They praise our naivety and honesty, but deny us the opportunity for full-fledged, sophisticated artistic expression. Grandma Moses is exactly what they expect from us, that they are willing to allow us", - wrote indignant New York Times journalists in their articles in 1950, defending the interests of American professional artists.

And since the masters of painting for too long considered themselves undeservedly relegated to the background, the struggle with the primitivist painters broke out in earnest, and in the end was crowned with the victory of professionals. So, by the end of the 40s, the interest of the American art market in "naive art" had dried up almost completely. Only grandmother Moses remained the last "fortress", and even then, until critics wrote off her popularity "on the base tastes of the public and political games."

Around the name of the artist, for some time, "the spears of criticism were broken", and soon they completely cared about the legendary grandmother. And she continued to live quietly on her farm and still paint her primitive paintings, and she was not at all disturbed by the fact that huge money was made in her name, since the artist’s work during the peak of her popularity was replicated in millions of copies in the form of postcards, stamps, posters. It was enough for Grandma Moses to know that her work brought joy to at least someone, and she cared little for the opinion of art critics.

And finally, in order to objectively assess the degree of popularity and fame of Anna Moses as an artist in American art in the middle of the last century, I would like to note that at one time the genius of self-promotion Andy Warhol never even dreamed of such attention and reverence from the public. And Grandma Moses, without much effort, became the most famous American artist of the twentieth century.

In continuation of the theme of primitivism in painting, the paintings of which were fascinated by Marc Chagall himself.

Grandmother Moses (real name Anna Mary Moses, née Robertson, September 7, 1860 - December 13, 1961) was an American amateur artist, one of the main representatives of American pictorial primitivism.

Biography Moses

Creativity Moses

In 1938, a New York collector noticed a drawing by Anna Moses displayed in a pharmacy window in the town of Hoosick Falls where she lived. Within a year, Moses' drawings began to appear in New York's Saint-Étienne Gallery and attracted widespread attention from collectors and art lovers.

During the 1940s, Moses exhibitions were held in many European countries and in Japan. In 1941, she received the New York State Award, and in 1949, US President Harry Truman personally presented her with the National Women's Press Club Award. In 1952 her autobiography was published. In 1960, on the centenary of Grandma Moses, her photograph, taken by the famous photojournalist Cornell Capa, was placed on the cover of Life magazine.

The paintings of Grandma Moses depict rural landscapes and everyday scenes, often they are multi-figured and resemble children's drawings.

Grandmother Moses preferred winter views, she painted summer ones less often. One of Moses' summer landscapes, The Old Motley House, 1862 (1942 work), purchased from the author after creation for $110, was sold in 2004 at an auction in Memphis for $60,000.

Moses' birthdays were celebrated on the covers of Time and Life magazines, and the centenary became a holiday for the whole state of New York: Governor Nelson Rockefeller declared September 7, 1960 "Grandma Moses Day." President Truman personally invited her to visit the White House. The Eisenhower administration ordered her a painting as a gift to the president on the third anniversary of the inauguration ...

One critic said of Anne Marie Moses:

"The appeal of her paintings is that they depict a lifestyle that Americans love to believe exists, but that no longer exists." Her rural pastorals, scenes from the life of American farmers are charming and certainly deserve a place in the history of art. But in itself, naive painting has never been wildly popular anywhere.

The audience was struck not so much by the paintings as by Grandma Moses herself, as the journalists called her. She first took up the brush at an age when most people no longer expect any gifts of fate, but quietly live out their lives. The beginning artist was 76 years old.

She had seen almost nothing but a farm in her life.

The Second World War smoothly flowed into the Cold War. America, more than ever, needed its own art as an element of propaganda. And Grandma Moses unwittingly found herself "on the front line." She became one of the main participants in the traveling exhibitions that the US Information Service organized in war-ravaged Europe ...

Critics broke spears around her name, and she lived quietly in her province. Health did not allow her to work on the farm - except to feed the chickens. And drawing became her job. For a quarter of a century (Grandma Moses died when she was 101 years old), she created more than 1600 paintings, drawings, illustrations.

Grandma Moses cared little for the opinion of the art world. Recognition from the press and politicians was rather tiring than joyful - sometimes I had to leave my native places and go to some dirty, crowded New York.

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Anna Mozes (Grandma Mozes) Anna Mozes

She was too old to work on the farm, and therefore entered the history of art.

Her birthdays were celebrated on the covers of Time and Life magazines, and the centenary became a holiday for the whole state of New York: Governor Nelson Rockefeller declared September 7, 1960 "Grandma Moses Day." President Truman personally invited her to visit the White House. The Eisenhower administration commissioned her a painting as a gift to the president for the third anniversary of the inauguration...

One critic said Anne Marie Moses: "The appeal of her paintings is that they depict a lifestyle that Americans love to believe exists, but which no longer exists." Her rural pastorals, scenes from the life of American farmers are charming and certainly deserve a place in the history of art. But in itself, naive painting has never been wildly popular anywhere.

Catching the Thanksgiving Turkey, 1943

2 Shenandoah Valley, 1938

3. Shenandoah Valley (1861 News of the Battle), 1938

4 Catching the Turkey, 1940

5. Mt. Sky on the Hill, 1940

Anna Marie considered her childhood happy, although the family of her parents, the Robertson farmers, was not spoiled with prosperity. The girl managed to get only the simplest education: she learned to read and write, and nothing more. At the age of twelve, she became a servant to more fortunate neighbors.

6. The Burning of Troy in 1862, 1943

7 Sugaring Off 1943

Earning a piece of bread, Anna Marie almost missed her happiness, and got married only at the age of 27 (at that age, women were already considered hopeless old maids). It is difficult to call a brilliant party: Thomas Salmon Moses was the same hired worker, that is, penniless. But on their honeymoon, the young still went on a trip. Unless, of course, that's what you can call the search for a place where they pay more ...

8. Checkered House, 1943

9. Hoosick Falls, New York, in Winter, 1944

10. Early Springtime on the Farm, 1945

11. Wash Day, 1945

When Thomas Moses died of a heart attack in 1927, the youngest son took over the family farm. And old Mrs. Moses was suddenly out of work. There was too much free time.

12. Hoosick Valley (From the Window), 1946

13. Grandma Moses Goes to the Big City, 1946

14. A Tramp on Christmas Day, 1946

15. Apple Butter Making, 1944-1947

16. The Spring in Evening, 1947

17. A Storm Is on the Water Now, 1947

History is silent about what wind in 1938 brought the engineer Luis Kaldor to the provincial town of Husik Falls. But no matter what he was looking for in this outback, he stumbled upon the paintings of Anna Marie, gathering dust in the window of a local pharmacy. Kaldor was so enamored that he sought out the author and purchased several works from her.

18. The Thunderstorm, 1948

19. A Beautiful World, 1948

He even managed to push three Moses paintings into the Modern Unknown American Painters exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. True, the event was closed, held for specialists, and Kaldor had no experience of communicating with this public ...

20. Plowboy, 1950

21. The Quilting Bee, 1940-1950

22. Country Fair, 1950

23. Taking in the Laundry, 1951

In October 1940, the personal exhibition of Anna Marie Moses, "What the Farmer's Wife Draws," opened at the "Galerie St. Etienne".

24. Morning Day on the Farm, 1951

25. Joy Ride, 1953

26. Sugaring Off, 1955

27 Halloween, 1955

However, the good reception of Moses' paintings in the Old World received a strange response in the artist's homeland. "Europeans like to think that Grandma Moses represents American art. They praise our naivete and honesty, but deny us the opportunity for full-fledged, sophisticated artistic expression. Grandma Moses is exactly what they expect from us, that they are willing to allow us," wrote The New York Times in 1950.

28. A Blizzard, 1956

29Eagle Bridge Hotel, 1959

By this time, the wind had changed in the US art world. For too long, professional painters have felt undeservedly overlooked by the Museum of Modern Art and others like it. The fight against the self-taught was eventually crowned with the success of professionals - by the end of the 1940s, the interest of the American art market in "folk art" had dried up. Moses remained the last bastion until critics attributed her popularity to base public tastes and political games.

30. Waiting for Christmas, 1960

31. So Long Till Next Year, 1960

32. The Rainbow, 1961

33. Checkered House

Critics broke spears around her name, and she lived quietly in her province. Health did not allow her to work on the farm - except to feed the chickens. And drawing became her job. For a quarter of a century (Grandma Moses died when she was 101 years old), she created more than 1600 paintings, drawings, illustrations.

34. Checkered House

35. Catching the Turkey

Grandma Moses cared little for the opinion of the art world. Recognition from the press and politicians rather tired than pleased - sometimes I had to leave my native places and go to some dirty, crowded New York. She was not worried that a lot of money was being made on her behalf: the artist's works were replicated in millions of postcards, stamps, posters ... Grandma Moses was pleased that she brought joy to someone.

36. Winter

37.Christmas at Home

She was happy: "I look back on my life as a completed day's work, and I'm happy with how it's done. Life is what we make it. It's always been that way, and that's how it always will be."

38. Let Me Help

Anna Mary Robertson Moses

Text: Stanislav Artemov,"People"