Grandma Moses Retrospective at Fenimore Art Museum

Tuesday, 20 June 2006 15:57

Cooperstown, N.Y.- Fenimore Art Museum presents an exciting exhibit Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation, an innovative retrospective on the life and work of the popular American folk artist Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma Moses” (1860-1961).  The exhibit will feature paintings, personal items, and quotes from Grandma herself to illuminate the legacy of her work.  The exhibit will run through December 31, 2006.

The exhibit examines her art by placing it in the context of the transition from the Great Depression, World War II, through rising prosperity of the 1950s, when she rose to an international celebrity because of the immense popularity of her work.  Personal objects on loan from the Bennington Museum such as brushes, paint, an apron, and rocking chair will be used along with her artwork to offer valuable perspectives often overlooked in traditional Grandma Moses exhibits.  Topics include: Grandma and Regionalism, Women’s Work, Grandma meets Norman Rockwell, Grandma Fights the Cold War, Grandma Products, Grandma as Celebrity, Why are there no great woman artists? and Yesteryears.

Anna Mary Robertson was born in Greenwich, New York in 1860.  Robertson and her husband Thomas Salmon Moses raised their children in Virginia but eventually settled in Eagle Bridge, New York in 1905.  In 1930, three years after the death of her husband, Anna began painting and making embroidered pictures.  Local exhibitions of her work soon gained mass appeal and by 1940 she was exhibiting her work in New York City.  Grandma Moses achieved great success with her folk art and became a media celebrity featured on radio and television.  Her popular artwork made her one of the most famous artists in America.  Moses died in Hoosick Falls, New York. She was 101 years old.

Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation was curated by Lee Kogan, Curator of Special Exhibitions and Public Programs at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, and Karal Ann Marling, Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.

Karal Ann Marling is the author of the forthcoming companion book Designs on the Heart: The Homemade Art of Grandma Moses to be published by Harvard University Press.  Marling is a professor of Art History and American Studies at the University of Minnesota.  She has authored many books on American art and popular culture.

The exhibition will travel to four additional venues: Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, January 27, 2007 – April 22, 2007; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee, May 19, 2007 – August 12, 2007; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, September 8, 2007 – January 6, 2008; and The John and Mable Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida, January 25 – April 18, 2008.

This exhibition was organized by the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York. Fenimore Art Museum, founded in 1944, is the museum showcase for the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA).  The Association features nationally recognized collections of American folk art, 19th-century American fine art, and the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art.

Visit www.fenimoreartmuseum.org.