Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work

Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work repositions Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860–1961) as a multidimensional force in American art, whose beloved painted recollections of rural life earned her a distinctive place in the post-World War II cultural imagination. The exhibition reveals how Moses’ art fused creativity, labor, and memories from a century-long life. 

Moses spent the majority of her life in rural New York and Virginia working as a housekeeper, farmer, and mother, occasionally painting or embroidering in her spare time. She was 80 years old in 1940 when she stepped tentatively into the limelight with her first solo exhibition. “Grandma Moses,” as she was dubbed by the press, became a media sensation, achieving a superstar celebrity that raised questions in her time and remains intriguing today. Moses wielded creativity, hope, and unity as tools for shaping a life that she would later reflect on as “a good day’s work.” 

Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work sheds new light on a beloved body of work, introduces Moses to younger generations, and examines the artist’s legacy in the context of America today. The exhibition brings together approximately 80 paintings, as well as embroideries, objects of ephemera, and photographic reproductions, revealing the ways she defied social norms and confirming her as a central figure in the story of American art. 

Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and curated by Leslie Umberger, senior curator of folk and self-taught art, and Randall R. Griffey, head curator, with support from Maria R. Eipert, curatorial assistant.