Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses

Anna was born in 1860, just before the American Civil War,

and grew up in a large family on a farm in New York. Although her

family was very poor, as a child, Anna enjoyed making her own paper

dolls from newspaper and fabric scraps. Inspired by her father, who

painted landscape murals in their living room; she loved to paint, but

never had time because of all her chores on the farm. When she was

12 years old, her parents hired her out to work for another family,

doing all the cooking, gardening, washing, and ironing. She didn’t

have much time for school either, but when she did, her favorite

subject was drawing maps. She married Thomas Moses when she

was 27 years old and ran a farm with her husband and 5 children. She

was very resourceful and made her own butter from the milk of a

cow she bought to help support her family income.

Later, after all her children were grown up, and her husband

passed away, her daughter inspired her to embroider and paint to

keep herself busy. She was in her 70s when she taught herself to

paint with oils on wood boards. She wanted to paint scenes that

were pleasing, cheerful, bright and with lots of activity. Being the

resourceful woman she was, she used cheap paints and toothpicks

for the fine details.

At 78 years old, she tried to sell her paintings at a local drug

store, but they just sat behind the window for about a year. Finally,

one day, her paintings were discovered by an art collector! He bought

them all, took them to his gallery and displayed them in her first

show called, “What a Farm Wife Painted”. Viewers fell in love with

the charm, honesty and simplicity of happier times. They felt that

they knew her from her paintings and nicknamed her “Grandma

Moses”.

In 1940, master artists like Picasso and Kandinsky believed

that self-taught artists, called folk artists, were purer and more

original than trained artists. This way of thinking elevated Moses’

artwork to become important and valuable. Her greatest success

came when she hired someone to sell her artwork. Hallmark

contracted her to make Thanksgiving Day cards, which launched her

into mass reproduction posters, books, china plates and drapery

fabric. Americans were fascinated by her “rags to riches” story. Many

elderly people were inspired by her and concluded that it’s never too

late to start a new career. She continued to paint until she died in

1961 at 101 years old.

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses

Materials Needed:

Drawing paper, colored pencils and/or crayons, pencil & eraser

Elements of Art:

1. A Pattern is created when shapes, lines and colors repeat

consistently.

2. Texture is created when shapes, lines and colors repeat and

give the illusion that you can feel it. 3. Movement is the result of shapes, lines, and colors being

repeated in a diagonal pattern that creates the feeling that

objects are moving.

Look at “Checkered House, 1943” and “Taking in the Laundry”,

1951.

From the 18th to 19th Century, The Checkered House was a

stagecoach inn where drivers stayed to change out their horses. It

served as a field hospital and military headquarters during the

Revolutionary War. The checkerboard pattern caused it to become a

memorable landmark even after it burned down in 1907. Grandma

Moses painted a variety of compositions of the Checkered House.

This painting originally sold for $10 in the 1940s and was recently

appraised for over $60,000.

Q: What kinds of activities are happening in these two

paintings? (People are riding on horses and in carriages, a

woman is washing the laundry, people are helping to hang it

on a windy, rainy day, a boy is carrying water pails.)

Art Analysis

1. Find Patterns: What shapes, lines & colors are repeating?

(Checkers on house, stalks of hay, tree branches, leaves on

trees, trees, laundry)

2. Find Texture: Where do you see texture? What kinds of lines,

shapes and colors are used? (rain, leaves on the trees, wood

siding on the house)

3. Find Movement: Can you find an object that appears to be

moving? Do you see the diagonal pattern? (The rain, swaying

trees and laundry)

Practice:

Draw a swaying tree in the rain to practice creating texture and

movement.

1. If needed, practice copying the tree bark, leaves, grass and

rain texture on a scrap paper.

2. Trace or copy the tree template, or draw a tree from a

photograph or life onto drawing paper.

3. With a variety of colors (browns, yellow, orange, red), begin

by drawing the trunk and branches of a swaying tree, blown

by the wind. DO NOT SHADE OR COLOR IN. Use only line and

shapes to create the appearance of bark texture.

4. Add clusters of small leaves and grass on the ground in a

variety of colors (green, yellow).

5. Use cool colors (blue, purple, and turquoise) to draw the rain

in the background.

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Checkered House, 1943, Grandma Moses

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Taking in the Laundry, 1951, Grandma Moses

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses - Art Practice Instructions

If needed, practice copying the tree bark, leaves, grass and rain texture on a scrap paper. DO NOT SHADE OR COLOR IN. Use lines and shapes to

create the illusion of texture. Use greens and yellows for grass and leaves. Use browns and yellows for bark. Use blues and purples for rain.

1. Trace or copy the tree

template, or draw a tree

from a photograph or real

life onto drawing paper.

2. Use browns and yellows to

create the appearance of bark

texture.

3. Add clusters of small leaves

and grass on the ground with

greens and yellows.

4. Use cool colors (blue, purple,

and turquoise) to draw the

rain in the background.

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017

© Brook Mesenbrink 2017