DAI Exhibit Reveals Early Influences of Grandma Moses

I must admit I knew very little about Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses before attending the Dayton Art Institute's newest exhibit, American Sampler: Grandma Moses and the Handicraft Tradition. What I learned inspired a new appreciation for one of our nation's most iconic and beloved artists.

 

Grandma Moses did not lead an easy life. She was one of ten children born to a mill operator who took her first job at age 12 to help support the family. When she found love with a farmhand at age 27 and started her own household, five of her ten children died in infancy.

 

Moses would suffer many other losses in her lifetime, including the death of her parents, the loss of her husband, and the passing of an adult daughter to tuberculosis. But perhaps the greatest loss was the the crippling arthritis that forced Grandma Moses at age 78 to give up needlework. 

 

Instead of accepting this change in her condition as a defeat, Grandmas Moses showed great resilience in adopting her sister's bold suggestion to trade her needle for a paint brush. The rest is history as Grandma Moses created over 1,500 canvases before her passing at age 101.

 

The fifty works as part of the American Sampler exhibit reflect this prolific period in the artist's life. Two years in the making, the DAI exhibit is the first to celebrate the handicrafts of Moses's earlier years such as needlework, crochet, rug hooking, and embroidery that influenced her later work.

 

As I moved through the gallery, I was struck by how the works capture Americana at its finest. Many of the paintings and handicrafts are similar in style or subject matter to the works of Currier and Ives and Norman Rockwell. There is even a picture in the final gallery of Moses and Rockwell together on her 89th birthday. Seeing these images of sleigh rides and quilting bees, historic houses and quaint rural towns, left me feeling nostalgic for simpler times before smartphones, 24 hour news, work-life balance, urban sprawl, and other challenges of modern life.  

 

The timing of this exhibit is perfect since many of the images such as turkey dinners and snow-covered landscapes capture the spirit of the season.  But perhaps the best part is the story of Grandma Moses herself. She may look like a mild, meek old woman from her photos, but don't let appearances fool you. She was, in fact, a strong-willed, independent woman determined to reinvent herself and live with passion and purpose in the last decades of life.

 

For those reasons and more, American Sampler is the perfect holiday gift.

 

American Sampler: Grandma Moses and the Handicraft Tradition is on display now through February 21, 2016. Admission, which includes access to the exhibition and the museum's permanent collections, is $14 for adults, $11 for seniors 60 and over, $11 for active duty military personnel, $11 for students 18 years and older with ID, and $6 for youth ages 7 to 17. Admission is free for DAI members and children under 6.  Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 am – 5 pm with extended evening hours on Thursdays until 8 pm, Sunday Noon – 5 pm, and closed Mondays and major holidays.