{"data":{"id":"1031","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":1031,"topgoose_id":1098,"tms_id":1031,"display_name":"Horace Pippin","sort_name":"Pippin Horace","display_date":"1888–1946","begin_date":"1888","end_date":"1946","biography":"\u003cp\u003eA self-taught artist, Horace Pippin was\none of the most prominent African American\npainters of the first half of the twentieth\ncentury. Pippin began making drawings while\nserving in the military during World War I,\nusing his journals to illustrate his experiences\nfighting in the trenches in France. By the\nearly 1930s, he had shifted to modestly sized\npaintings on canvas and fabric, as well as\ncigar boxes and burnt-wood panels that\nhe inscribed with a hot poker, using his\nleft hand to prop up his right arm, which had\nbeen partially paralyzed in the war. Living in\nhis hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania,\nPippin portrayed subjects ranging from\nlocal interiors and landscapes to portraits\nof historical figures and scenes inspired\nby his wartime memories. His pared-\ndown, forthright style and personal approach\nto these subjects earned him national\nrecognition, especially as folk art traditions\ngarnered new attention in the United States\nduring the 1920s and 1930s.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\nMany of Pippin’s compositions\nforcefully conveyed his concerns about war\nand injustice. \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/2017\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Buffalo Hunt\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, one of\nhis earliest canvases, evokes these themes,\nalbeit indirectly. Unlike most of Pippin’s\nlandscapes, this composition was not the\nresult of firsthand observation in his native\nBrandywine Valley. Instead, it represents\nan imaginary scene in the American\nWest, with a buffalo running in deep snow\nwhile pursued by a shadowy hunter and\nsnarling dogs. The dark, abstracted form of\nthe buffalo sinking into the stark white\nground, together with the heavily falling\nsnow, seem to confirm the hopeless\nfate of the animal while also hinting at the\ncruelty of both nature and humankind.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500026325","wikidata_id":"Q325076","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:05:14.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:00:23.589-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/1031/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/1031/exhibitions"}}}}