09/08/2025
Interesting story about Artist Grandma Moses ❤️
Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until the age of 76, but she was so prolific that she completed over 1,500 original works before her death at the age of 101. Moses, who was born on this day in 1860, became well-known for her depictions of what she called "old-timey" New England rural life, and famously said, “I’ll get an inspiration and start painting; then I'll forget everything, everything except how things used to be and how to paint it so people will know how we used to live.”
Moses was first introduced to art as a child during the few years she attended school at a one-room schoolhouse. There, she experimented with painting using lemon, grape juice, and other natural materials. By the age of 12, however, she was thrust into the world of domestic work and sent to work on a neighbor’s farm. For the next 15 years, Moses kept house, cooked, and sewed for wealthy families until she was married and she and her husband eventually bought their own farm. Running the farm and caring for the five of her ten children that survived infancy left little time for art, although she was well-known for her yarn crafts and the quilts she made for friends and family. When her arthritis became so painful that she could no long embroider and quilt at the age of 76, Moses' sister suggested that painting would be easier on her hand, and thus her painting career began.
At first, Moses sold simple canvases for $3 to $5 each. Then, in 1938, art collector Louis J. Caldor spotted her paintings in the window of a drugstore and was entranced; he bought all 15 of her completed works and arranged for three of her paintings to appear in a Museum of Modern Art exhibition in 1939. The following year, she had her first solo show entitled "What a Farm Wife Painted," and as her fame grew, her canvases started selling for thousands of dollars.
By the 1950s, her paintings became popular subjects for holiday greeting cards, and her exhibitions were breaking attendance records around the world. Moses continued to paint until her death in 1961. Her indomitable spirit is perhaps best captured in a quote from her 1952 autobiography: “I look back on my life like a good day's work, it was done and I feel satisfied with it. I was happy and contented, I knew nothing better and made the best out of what life offered. And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."
For two art books about Grandma Moses' art and influence, we recommend "Grandma Moses: American Modern" (https://amzn.to/3Tjaj3U) and "Designs on the Heart: The Homemade Art of Grandma Moses" (https://amzn.to/3RZmGPx)
For books to help young children discover their own inner artist -- all for ages 4 to 8 -- we highly recommend "Sky Color" (https://www.amightygirl.com/sky-color-book) and "Louise Loves Art" (https://www.amightygirl.com/louise-loves-art)
To inspire children and teens with the stories of artistic girls and women - both in real-life and fiction - visit our "Creative Arts" book section at http://amgrl.co/2ibkDIQ
If you'd like to encourage your own Mighty Girl's interest in the arts, check out our blog post "Growing Creativity: 60 Arts and Crafts Toys for Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10465
