Melissa Sweet enhances Pippin’s story with her visual interpretation of his life. “He has been variously labeled a folk artist, a self-taught artist, and a primitive painter – but he is certainly and indisputably an American master.”

He produced some 140 works including several self portraits, and paintings portraying American historical events.Īs the author says in a note at the end of the book: “John Brown Going to His Hanging”, by Horace Pippin Suddenly, he became famous, and he was busy painting again. Wyeth saw them and arranged an exhibition for him in West Chester. He hung his pictures in local stores, but no one responded to them until the famous painter N.C. With practice, his arm improved and his hand grew steadier, and he began to paint again, using an old brush, leftover house paint he found in alleys, and extra pieces of cloth. He took whatever employment he could find, and at night, he worked on moving his right arm. Moreover, he had trouble finding a job because he couldn’t do any lifting. Then he was shot and his right arm was badly damaged, and he was unable to draw. He joined the army during World War I, and there filled notebooks with pictures of what he saw (six of which survive). Nevertheless, he still drew pictures whenever he could. When he was in eighth grade his father left and he had to quit school and work to support his family. While still a young boy, he entered a drawing contest sponsored by an art supply company and won colored pencils, a pair of brushes, and a box of paints. Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, from the time he was little, Pippin loved to draw, using scraps of paper and charcoal.

A splash of red by jen bryant