Description
Vintage Color Photograph of the Artist Grandma Moses on her 90th Birthday - 8"x10" - Very Good Condition This photo was likely taken by Dr. R.F. Beers. Dr. & Mrs. Beers were close friends of the artist. Helen Beers is a pretty well known still life painter, & the friendship between she & Grandma Moses is well known. It is likely her handwriting on the back of this photograph. The glossy color photograph has description on the back (as you can see from the photos). The photograph is in very good condition. About the Artist, Grandma Moses, from WIKIPEDIA: "Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 - December 13, 1961), or Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 & is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. Her works have been shown & sold worldwide, including in museums, & have been merchandised such as on greeting cards. Sugaring Off was sold for US$1.2 million in 2006. "She was a live-in housekeeper for a total of 15 years, starting at age 12. An employer noticed her appreciation for their prints made by Currier & Ives, & they supplied her with drawing materials. Moses & her husband began their married life in Virginia, where they worked on farms. in 1905, they returned to the Northeastern United States & settled in Eagle Bridge, New York. They had ten children, five of whom survived infancy. She embroidered pictures with yarn, until disabled by arthritis. "By the age of 76, Moses had developed arthritis, which made embroidery painful. Her sister Celestia suggested that painting would be easier for her, & this idea spurred Moses's painting career in her late 70s. Grandma Moses also told reporters that she turned to painting in order to create the postman's Christmas gift, seeing as it "was easier to make [a painting] than to bake a cake over a hot stove". Being practical, painted works would last longer than her embroidered compositions made of worsted wool, which risked being eaten by moths. Judith Stein noted that "her sense of accomplishment in her painting was rooted in her ability to make 'something from nothing'". When her right hand began to hurt, she switched to her left hand. "She was a prolific painter, generating more than 1,500 canvasses in three decades.[16] She initially charged $3 to $5 for a painting, depending upon its size, & as her fame increased her works were sold for $8,000 to $10,000.[1] Her winter paintings are reminiscent of some of the known winter paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, although she had never seen his work.[17] A German fan said, "There emanates from her paintings a light-hearted optimism; the world she shows us is beautiful & it is good. You feel at home in all these pictures, & you know their meaning. The unrest & the neurotic insecurity of the present day make us inclined to enjoy the simple & affirmative outlook of Grandma Moses." "Norman Rockwell & Grandma Moses were friends who lived over the Vermont-New York
