Sold at Auction: Horace Pippin

(b West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1888; d West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1946) American painter. While Horace Pippin demonstrated a proclivity for drawing from a young age, the entirely self taught artist did not focus on art in earnest until after World War I, when he returned to his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. The initial progression was slow as he began decorating cigar boxes with charcoal, which evolved into burning images on wood panel, and finally to painting. While many of his early works depict war scenes, Pippin soon expanded his scope to include a variety of subjects including interiors, exteriors and biblically inspired works. Throughout his career he completed over 100 paintings, and his artistic accomplishments are even more impressive in light of an injury that he sustained in the war, which permanently hindered his use of his right arm. (Credit: Christie’s, New York, Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture, December 4, 2008, lot 122)