Artist Grandma Moses and Some

¶ … artist Grandma Moses and some of her works of art. Grandma Moses was a famous American folk artist who painted over 1500 paintings during her lifetime. She did not begin painting until she was in her 70s, which makes her output even more amazing. Her paintings were noted for their vivid colors, and realistic portrayals of country life and country landscapes. Grandma Moses real name was Anna Mary Robertson. She was born at Greenwich, NY in 1860, and lived until 1961.

For most of her life, she was a housekeeper, working on a farm where she met her husband, Thomas Moses. She became a mother, and later a widow in 1927. She did not paint her first painting until she was 76 (in 1936), and she took up painting because she had arthritis in her hands, and could no longer embroider, which she enjoyed. She based many of her first paintings on embroidery projects she had designed and completed ("Grandma Moses Is Dead").

Her paintings first sold for about $3 or $5 dollars in her hometown of Hoosick Falls, NY, but an art collector saw some of the paintings and bought them all. Soon word began to spread about the artist, and she became known around the world as "Grandma Moses." Her paintings were in the primitive, folk art style, and showed typical scenes indoors and outdoors around her home.

One writer said they were known for "Gay color, action and humor enlivened her portrayals of such simple farm activities as maple sugaring, soap-making, candle-making, haying, berrying and the making of apple butter" ("Grandma Moses Is Dead"). Her buildings often have a slight tilt to them, and her people often resemble cartoon figures, but there is something arresting and charming about her paintings that make them seem somewhat irresistible and heart-warming.

The Bennington Museum in Vermont has the largest collection of Grandma Moses' works in the U.S., and many of her most famous works are on display here. One of the paintings on display here is "At the Well," a delightful summer landscape filled with black and white dairy cows on a green hillside, tall birch trees, a Vermont farmhouse, and a community well where a farmer in overalls is bringing up water.

Chickens and a dog fill the scene as well, along with working farmers and fields and homes in the distance. Her perspective is not perfect, but she gives the scene life and vibrancy by her use of color and her clear understanding of the natural world she was painting. Her paintings are like taking a step back in time, and this one shows her love of the farmlands around her and her love of color and people, as well.

She painted this painting in 1953, after she had been painting for nearly 20 years. She depicted her surroundings in all the seasons, and some of her most interesting works depict winter, and one of the most arresting is "Get Along," a snowy winter day with several sleighing parties out enjoying the snowfall. The bare tree branches of the trees are covered with snow, and the houses huddle together under a blanket of white.

However, Moses made the scene vibrant and alive by using rich reds and oranges in the work to depict the sleighs and some of the farm buildings, and a beautiful blue indicating a river in the background. The piece really depicts a New England winter, and cannot help but make the viewer smile at her happy memories.