Horace Pippin

Shell Holes and Observation Balloon, Champagne Sector

c. 1931-1937

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Horace Pippin

Shell Holes and Observation Balloon, Champagne Sector

Horace Pippin

Shell Holes and Observation Balloon, Champagne Sector

c. 1931-1937

Physical Qualities Oil on muslin, Framed: 29 1/8 x 37 1/2 x 4 1/8 in. (74 x 95.3 x 10.5 cm) Sight: 21 5/8 x 30 in. (54.9 x 76.2 cm)

Credit Line Gift of Mrs. John Merryman, Jr.

Object Number 1967.48

Horace Pippin’s chilling landscape of the bombed-out French town of Champagne recalls his service during World War I (1914– 1918) with the 369th Infantry Regiment. Known as the Harlem Hellfighters, the heroic all-Black unit suffered the most casualties of any American regiment during the war. Pippin himself lost the use of his right hand at Champagne in 1918. His memories of ruptured earth and collapsing farmhouses remained vivid more than a decade later, when he taught himself painting to rehabilitate his injured arm and contend with the trauma. He wrote, “I can never forget suffering, and I will never forget sunset, that is when you could see it, so I came home with all of it in my mind and I Paint from it to Day.”

Carlen Galleries; Charles E. Cockey, Jr.; Mrs. John Merryman, Jr.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "American Modernism from the Collection," June 25, 2003-

James Smalls, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and his Influence in America," The Baltimore Museum of Art, June 7, 2006 - December 3, 2006.

West Chester Community Center, "Horace Pippin Exhibition," 8 Jun--15 Jul 1937. no.5

Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Masters of Popular Painting," 27 Apr 1938--23 Jun 1939. no.165, ill.;circulation to seven American cities.

Carlen Galleries, Philadelphia, PA. "Horace Pippin Exhibition," 19 Jan--18 Feb 1940, no.9.

The Arts Club of Chicago, "Exhibition of Paintings by Horace Pippin," 9 May--14 Jun 1941, no.2.

Bignou Gallery, New York, "Paintings by Horace Pippin," 30 Sep--12 Oct 1941, no.11.

M. Knoedler and Co., Inc., New York, "Horace Pippin Memorial Exhibition," 29 Sep--11 Oct 1947, no.2.

BMA, "Contemporary Negro Painting," 8 Feb--9 Mar 1948.

The Phillips Collection, Washington DC, 25 Feb--27 Mar 1977; Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York, 5--30 Apr 1977; Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA, 4 Jun--5 Sep 1977. cat. no. 4, ill. "Horace Pippin."

Stein, Judith E., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, "I Tell My Heart: The Art of Horace Pippin," 21 Jan--17 Apr 1994, no. 33, ill. p. 61. Circulated to The Art Institute of Chicago, 28 Apr--10 Jul 1994; The Cincinnati Art Museum, 28 Jul--9 Oct 1994; BMA, 26 Oct 1994--1 Jan 1995.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1 Feb--30 Apr 1995.

Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Masters of Popular Painting," 27 Apr 1938--23 Jun 1939. no.165, p.165

Benskin, Elizabeth, and Suzy Wolffe. Teacher's Guide to the American Collection. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014, pages 79 and 86.

Rodman, Selden, "Horace Pippin: The Artist as a Black American," Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1972, p 53

Stein, Judith E., "I Tell My Heart: The Art of Horace Pippin." Englewood, NJ: Universe Publishing for Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1994. repro. p. 61.

Soutif, Daniel. "The Color Line: Les Artistes Africains-Américains Et La Ségrégation." Paris: musée du quai Branly; Paris: Flammarion, 2016. p.110

Monahan, Anne. "Horace Pippin, American Modern." New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020. p 33,37,44-46,84,199,247, ill. fig 19 p 45.

Jentleson, Katherine. "Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-taught Artsit in America." Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2020. p. 90,100-105,238. il. p 101, plate 39