Whiteside Church

Copied Grandma Moses, Whiteside Church, 1945, oil on high-density fiberboard, 9 3⁄4 × 17 in. (24.8 × 43.2 cm) framed: 14 5⁄8 in. × 21 3⁄4 in. × 1 in. (37.1 × 55.2 × 2.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Kallir Family in Memory of Otto Kallir, 2021.71.2, © Grandma Moses Properties Co., NY

Artwork Details

Title
Whiteside Church
Artist
Date
1945
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
9 3⁄4 × 17 in. (24.8 × 43.2 cm) framed: 14 5⁄8 in. × 21 3⁄4 in. × 1 in. (37.1 × 55.2 × 2.5 cm)
Copyright
© Grandma Moses Properties Co., NY
Credit Line
Gift of the Kallir Family in Memory of Otto Kallir
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on high-density fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Exterior — religious — church
  • Figure group
  • Landscape
  • Landscape — cemetery
Object Number
2021.71.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2021.71.2

Artwork Description

At age twelve, Moses was hired out to the home of distant relatives, the Whitesides. Around 1800, Phineas Whiteside, a Presbyterian, had built a church in Valley Falls, New York, which was named in honor of the founding family in 1825.

Moses described churchgoing as joyous--an occasion to sing, socialize, rest after a week of work, and hear community news in pre-telephone days. "[Whiteside Church] was patronized by many creeds, even the Quakers," she recalled. "I have seen as many as four hundred gather there for worship. . . . What an enjoyment . . . they can exchange news of the week, hear from the sick and the well, and spend the day in prayer, thanksgiven and song."

Exhibition Label for Grandma Moses: A Good Day's Work October 24, 2025 -- July 12, 2026