Horace Pippin

I have picked Horace Pippin as our February artist because he was born in Pennsylvania. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1888, but grew up in Goshen, New York. Since we have been studying folk art and Pennsylvania born artists in class, he seemed like an obvious choice.

Pippin was a self-taught African-American painter who worked in a naive style. He was called a folk artist because he had no formal art training. He attended segregated schools and served in the 369th infantry in Europe during World War I. Pippin lost the use of his right arm during the war.

Here is one of his most well known paintings. It is called Self-portrait and was painted in 1941.
This painting shows him seated in front of an easel cradling his brush in his right hand. Since World War I, he used his left arm to guide his injured right arm when he painted. Two themes he often painted were the injustice of slavery and American segregation. He also painted landscapes, religious subjects, and genre paintings.

Click on Pippin to see more of his art work.

Are you in the mood for a hard puzzle? First click on and look at Domino Players (painted in 1943).

Click on the word: puzzle. Good luck.