Old Black Joe
1943
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Accession Number
1999.23
Tags
About this artwork
Horace Pippin took up painting after being injured in World War I, in which he fought with the 369th Infantry, a regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." Pippin's grandparents were enslaved and his life was fraught with poverty, segregation, and racism. Pippin never received any training in the arts, and he used his left hand to guide his debilitated right one when he worked. His paintings address the horrors of war and ongoing issues of social injustice.
Art Historical Context
Horace Pippin's *Old Black Joe* (1943) is a poignant oil painting that captures the artist's deeply personal engagement with African American life and history. A self-taught painter from Pennsylvania, Pippin began creating art after sustaining a severe injury in World War I while serving with the famed 369th Infantry Regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters With no formal training, he ingeniously used his left hand steady his weakened right one, developing a raw, folk-art style marked by bold colors and flattened forms that convey emotional depth. The work depicts a figure group outside a m...