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Art Fact #40 Horace Pippin

A self-taught American artist with an oeuvre (collection) magnified by the use of multiple subjects, compositional strategies and themes. The artist works range from scenes inspired by service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and biblical subjects. The artist is most widely recognized for addressing issues of slavery and racial segregation in the United States. The artist was also memorialized as the "most important Negro painter" in American history by the New York Times.



Born February 22 1888 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Horace Pippin’s natural abilities were first recognized in his youth. In 1898  he entered an art supply company's contest and won his first set of crayons and watercolors. In 1917 Pippin enlisted in the 15th regiment of the New York National Guard later known as the 369th infantry regiment. During  World War I Pippin’s regiment was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. In 1918, Pippin was injured in battle, initially losing most of the use of his right arm. He later recovered but it’s is believed he had use his left hand to move his right to paint. He received an honorably discharge in 1919.


Pippin then moved to Bellville, New Jersey, working as a truck driver. He married Jennie Fetherstone Wade Giles in 1920. Pippin then relocated to West Chester, Pa. Pippin returned to art in 1920s; with designs of snow scenes highlighted with paint on details in the wood panels. In 1930 he painted his first oil paintingThe Ending of the War: Starting Home.


Pippin  recieved recognition with a submission to the Chester County Art Association Annual Exhibition. With motivation from the community and CCAA co-founders; the CCAA and the interracial West Chester Community Center arranged a solo exhibition. Later Pippin was  introduced to MoMA curators. Pippin made his national debut in 1938 in the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition "Masters of Popular Painting"


In 1940 Pippin enrolled in art appreciation classes at the Barnes Foundation. During the early 1940s Pippin exhibited in commercial galleries in Philadelphia and New York. He also showed at the Arts Club of Chicago and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.


He painted John Brown Going to his Hanging in 1942. In 1943 Pippin painted Mr.Prejudice during World War II for use as a poster or illustration. The art piece is inspired by the Allies' "V for Victory" slogan. Pippin also painted several religious subjects, for his heralded Holy Mountain series. Pippin engraved  these works with notable dates from  WWII. The Holy Mountain I; "June 6, 1944", D-Day, The Knowledge of God "Dec. 7 1944", an anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and The Holy Mountain III "Aug 9, 1945", the date the of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.


Pippin's most popular works are genre paintings. Notably After Supper  1935–1939, the Domino Players 1943, School Studies 1944 and The Milkman of Goshen 1945. Other popular works feature subjects of popular culture, such  Old Black Joe, from a song "Old Black Joe" and Uncle Tom, from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Pippin also created portraits of Marian Anderson and dedicated a piece to Paul Robeson. His painting The Park Bench remained incomplete at the time of passing in 1946.


In 1947 Pippin became the first Black American artist, subject in a monograph, Selden Rodman's Horace Pippin, A Negro Painter in America. There have been multiple significant retrospective exhibitions, scholarly books and articles, children's books and a book of poetry in honor of Horace Pippin’s life and achievements.



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William Mandela Matthews CEO    ArtIsLife LLC est 2017 

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