Grandma Moses

Grandma Moses was a famous painter. Her real name was Anna Mary Robertson Moses. She was born on September 7, 1860. She grew up on a farm near Greenwich, New York. Her family was not rich. Anna went to school only sometimes. She had to help with work at home.

When Anna was about twelve, she left home. She went to work on another farm nearby. She cooked, cleaned, and took care of children. She also helped with farm chores. Life was hard work for girls back then.

In 1887, Anna married a man named Thomas Salmon Moses. They worked together on farms. They lived in Virginia for a while. Later, they moved back to New York. They got a farm near Eagle Bridge, New York.

Anna had ten children, but only five grew up. She worked hard every day. She sold butter, potato chips, and jam to earn money. She also made quilts and sewed pictures with thread. This was called embroidery. She loved making pictures of farm life this way.

In 1918, Anna's husband died. She moved in with her son's family. As she got older, her hands hurt from arthritis. Arthritis is when your joints ache and it's hard to move them. This made sewing too painful. So Anna found a new way to make pictures. She started to paint!

Anna began painting seriously when she was in her seventies. She used house paint and old boards. She painted from memory. She showed farms, fields, and rivers. She used bright colors. Her paintings showed people plowing fields, riding sleighs, and having fun at parties.

In 1938, a man named Louis Caldor saw her paintings in a drugstore window. He loved them! He bought some and took them to New York City. He showed them to an art dealer named Otto Kallir. In 1939, Kallir put her paintings in a big art show in New York.

In 1940, the famous Museum of Modern Art showed her paintings too. Around this time, people started calling her "Grandma Moses." The name stuck! Soon, everyone knew her by that name.

Grandma Moses became very famous. In 1946, her picture was on the cover of TIME magazine. Companies put her paintings on greeting cards. Millions of cards with her art were sold! Her paintings were also on plates and fabric.

In 1949, a movie about her life came out. It told the story of a farm girl who became a famous painter late in life. People loved her story.

Grandma Moses won many awards. In 1947, President Harry Truman gave her a special award. In 1952, the Governor of New York made a special "Grandma Moses Day" for her birthday. She also wrote a book about her own life.

Grandma Moses kept painting until she was almost 100 years old. In 1960, people celebrated her 100th birthday. She had painted about 1,600 to 2,000 pictures in her life! That is a lot of paintings.

Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961. She was 101 years old. She started painting late in life, but she became one of America's most loved artists. Her paintings still remind people of simple farm life long ago.