Pippin, Horace (1888-1946), was an important African American folk painter. Pippin was self-taught as an artist. He primarily painted religious themes, war scenes, and images from African American life. He used rich, often bright colors and painted blocky, flat forms that had no specific details. Pippin created simple images, and his paintings tell easily understood stories.
Pippin was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Goshen, New York. His grandparents had been slaves. He left school at the age of 14, doing various odd jobs to support his ill mother. Pippin was seriously wounded in the right shoulder while serving in World War I (1914-1918). The injury left him unable to raise his right arm above his shoulder. After the war, he devoted himself to painting in West Chester.
Pippin’s work first gained recognition in the late 1930’s, during a revival of interest in American folk art. He attracted nationwide attention in 1938, when the Museum of Modern Art in New York City exhibited four of his pictures in a show called “Masters of Popular Painting.”
