SAAM: Grandma Moses: A Good Day's Work (Training for the un-trained)

 Much is made of the fact that Grandma Moses had no formal training.  She was said to be a Primitive painter by those who both admired in innate design sense and those who abhorred her simplistic forms.  One way of another, most people have an opinion.   On her journey to originality, Grandma Moses did a lot of copying, or borrowing, or mimicking other works of art.

The exhibit provides many examples like these: #1 is from sometime prior to 1938.  Moses first took a lithograph entitled "In The Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts" by artist Andrew W. Melrose (1836 - 1901) and she painted over it.  Like paint by the numbers or a coloring book.  Then she made her own version which she called "Autumn In The Berkshires," again circa 1935 (?).  

"In The Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts" by artist Andrew W. Melrose (1836 - 1901) with Moses over-painting.

 

"Autumn In The Berkshires," c. 1935

#2 features the Currier and Ives lithograph "Home To Thanksgiving" and basically copied it for her painting "Home For Thanksgiving," which she produced sometime in latter 1930's.

The Currier & Ives Lithograph "Home To Thanksgiving"

"Home For Thanksgiving," circa 1938

#3 Shows how another Currier and Ives Lithograph "Central - Park Winter" formed the basis for an inspiration, and provided elements to a portion of the work that became "First Skating," in 1945.

The Currier & Ives Lithograph "Central - Park Winter"

"First Skating," 1945

Finally, #4 in what is really a progression of learning leading to greater independence as an artist is a work where she used several clippings of other works and reassembled them into various aspects of a more complex design.

"In Harvest Time," 1945

Snippets from other works incorporated in the composition.

Now, lest you think I'm sharing this to someone downgrade Grandma Moses, I assure you I am not.  Here is an example for 1981 of my own use of another artist's painting to make a copy, but also learn something of the techniques involved.  In my case I was going from an oil pointed of a Church in New Hampshire by Eric Sloane (1905 - 1985) to copy it using my preferred medium of watercolor.  Far be it from to cast aspersions!  

"New Hampshire Church"

Eric Sloane

My watercolor copy!  I screwed the pooch on the clouds...