Grandma Moses American Primitive

1946 art catalog by Grandma Moses and Otto Kallir

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources.
Find sources: "Grandma Moses American Primitive" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Grandma Moses American Primitive was the first popular catalog of works by Grandma Moses by Otto Kallir, published in 1946.

Moses’ first solo exhibition had taken place in 1940 "What a Farmwife Painted", at the Galerie St. Etienne in New York. It was organized by Louis J. Caldor and Otto Kallir and since that time Kallir himself had become a firm admirer and promoter of the artist's work. He believed the choice of works in the 1940 exhibition "included many of her early attempts in which her great talent was scarcely recognizable."[1]

Kallir decided to make a catalog based on Grandma Moses' own words on the occasion of her 85th birthday in 1945. He chose to add "American Primitive" to the title and gave the work the subtitle "Forty paintings with comments by Grandma Moses - together with her life's history". He then wrote an essay that partially rejected the "primitive" label that he felt responsible for, writing "It is important, however, not to confuse “primitive” with “self-taught” artists."[1]

* First version published by Dryden Press (now Harcourt), 1946

* Second version by Doubleday, 1947

Louis Bromfield wrote the introduction, and Hildegard Bachert transcribed interviews with the artist to develop an ego-document that could be illustrated with a selection of paintings that reflected events and scenes from her life. The selection of paintings each accompanied a story from the artist's childhood in her own words. Two of the forty paintings were illustrated in color (Sugaring Off, and Old Oaken Bucket). Though the text and formatting were the same, the second edition switched the order of the paintings that accompanied the artist's stories in order to accompany two more color illustrations (The Old Checkered House in 1860, and Early Springtime on the Farm). These were the first published color illustrations of Grandma Moses paintings and they proved so popular that Kallir first registered her paintings with the Copyright Office in Washington and then arranged for large, higher quality prints that were published in 1948 to accommodate demand.[2]

The list of 42 paintings follows which were included in both the 1946 and 1947 editions. These paintings were referenced with the acronym "GMAP", in Kallir's 1973 catalogue raisonné. Since the plate numbers were different but the topic selections were the same, this list is ordered by painting date. Only four paintings were included from the 1940 exhibition. The 1973 catalogue raisonné numbers and Grandma Moses record book numbers are also included along with known owner information:

title  | 1940 exhibition nr.  | GMAP 1946 plate nr.  | GMAP 1947 plate nr.  | 1973 Kallir cat. nr.  | "RB" nr.  | latest date painted  | collection / owner

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Shenandoah Valley, South Branch  | 20  | 4  | 8  | 51  |  | 1938  | Louis J. Caldor
Bringing in the Maple Sugar  | 19  | 3  | 7  | 42  |  | 1939  | Otto Kallir
Sugaring Off in Maple Orchard  |  | 6  | 10  | 56  |  | 1940  | Sidney Janis
Cambridge in the Valley  | 25  | 5  | 9  | 11  |  | 1940  | Louis J. Caldor
On the Road to Greenwich  | 27A  | 8  | 12  | 26  |  | 1940  | Louis J. Caldor
Home of Hezekiah King, 1776  |  | 10  | 14  | 187  | 302  | 1942  |
Black Horses |  | 9  | 13  | 181  |  | 1942  | Otto Kallir
Over the Bridge to Grandma's House  |  | 13  | 17  | 130  |  | 1942  |
A Fire in the Woods  |  | 7  | 11  | 297  | 462  | 1943  | Ala Story
The Trappers II  |  | 11  | 15  | 221  | 336  | 1943  | Frank Jay Gould
Missouri  |  | 12  | 16  | 224  | 340  | 1943  | Galerie St. Etienne
Checkered House |  | 17  |  | 317  |  | 1943  | IBM
McDonnell Farm |  | 18  | 21  | 313  | 518  | 1943  | The Phillips Collection
The Old Checkered House in 1860  |  |  | 3  | 387  | 592  | 1943  | Ala Story
Over the River to Grandma's House  |  | 14  | 18  | 277  | 443  | 1943  | Jack Kapp
Mt. Nebo in Winter  |  | 16  | 20  | 275  | 441  | 1943  | Bennington Museum
Sugaring Off |  | 1  | 1  | 276  | 442  | 1943  | Galerie St. Etienne
Catching the Thanksgiving Turkey  |  | 15  | 19  | 260  | 353  | 1943  |
The Old Oaken Bucket  |  | 2  | 2  | 238  | 343  | 1943  |
Home for Thanksgiving  |  | 26  | 28  | 441  | 1036  | 1944  |
Old Red Mill  |  | 21  | 24  | 480  |  | 1944  | Jane Elizabeth Gosden
Hoosick Falls in Winter |  | 23  | 26  | 425  | 810  | 1944  | The Phillips Collection
The Old Automobile  |  | 24  | 27  | 442  | 1036  | 1944  |
In the Park  |  | 19  | 22  | 343  | 600  | 1944  | Galerie St. Etienne
In the Springtime  |  | 20  | 23  | 331  | 528  | 1944  | Susan Vanderpoel Hun
Out for the Christmas Trees  |  | 25  |  | 444  | 1038  | 1944  |
In Harvest Time  |  | 22  | 25  | 379  | 583  | 1944  |
The Lookout, 1777, Vermont  |  | 31  | 32  | 508  | 1032  | 1945  |
Our Barn  |  | 39  | 39  | 541  | 1061  | 1945  |
Haying Time  |  | 28  | 29  | 485  | 1011  | 1945  |
May: Making Soap, Washing Sheep  |  | 32  | 33  | 509  | 1033  | 1945  | Miss Porter's School
A Winter's Day, 1870  |  | 33  | 34  | 511  | 1035  | 1945  | Jane Winton
Bondsville Fair  |  | 34  | 35  | 497  | 1023  | 1945  |
Going to Church  |  | 35  | 36  | 502  | 1027  | 1945  |
Wash Day |  | 36  | 37  | 498  | 1024  | 1945  | Rhode Island School of Design Museum
Whiteside Church  |  | 38  | 38  | 543  | 1063  | 1945  | Smithsonian American Art Museum
Picnic  |  | 30  | 31  | 484  | 1010  | 1945  |
Early Springtime on the Farm  |  | 37  | 6  | 500  | 1026  | 1945  |
The Lonely Tramp or Traveler  |  | 40  | 40  | 483  | 1003  | 1945  |
The First Skating  |  | 29  | 30  | 486  | 1013  | 1945  |
Here Comes Aunt Judith  |  |  | 4  | 581  | 1098  | 1946  |
Grandma Moses Goes to the Big City |  | 27  | 5  | 577  | 1091  | 1946  | Smithsonian American Art Museum

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b What a Farmwife Painted discussed by Otto Kallir in Grandma Moses American Primitive, 1947
2. ^ Kallir 1973, page 103

* Otto Kallir, Grandma Moses American Primitive, Dryden Press, New York, 1946 (on archive.org)
* Otto Kallir, Grandma Moses American Primitive, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1947 (on archive.org)
* Otto Kallir, Grandma Moses, Complete edition, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1973