"A strange thing is memory, and hope; one looks backward, and the other forward; one is of today, the other of tomorrow. Memory is history recorded in our brain, memory is a painter, it paints pictures of the past and of the day." -- Anna Mary Robertson Moses, American artist known by by her nickname "Grandma." Her primitive, colorful Americana style of painting captured the nostalgic view of rural America. The Bennington Museum, which holds her largest public collection, describes her work this way:
"Human figures have an iconic simplicity: children running, a farmer leaning on his hoe. Themes speak of the unchanging cycles of rural life: maple sugaring, the gathering storm, quilt making, a country wedding. This is why we return to her paintings again and again, for their intuitive artistic strength and their evocation of a timeless rural American past."
She painted over 1,500 works starting at the age of 78 and continuing until her death 59 years ago today at age 101.
(photo: "Bennington" [1953] by Grandma Moses)
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