WW I series: Outpost Raid, Champagne Sector ~ Horace Pippin

Horace Pippin (1888-1946) served in World War I as part of the renowned African-American regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." As a returning veteran with a disability (his right arm was severely injured by a sniper while serving in France) Pippin faced much adversity. Yet by 1930, Pippin had begun teaching himself to paint using his left arm as a support for his right hand. Pippin was quickly embraced nationally by museums, galleries, critics and collectors who valued the self-taught artist's style, characterized in his time as "primitive" or "folk," for its perceived pureness of expression. Pippin was an artist who remained independent, creating and upholding a unique aesthetic sensibility, vividly depicting a range of subject matter, from intimate family moments to powerful scenes of war, history and religion that comment on issues such as racism and social justice.