Checkered House

Copied Grandma Moses, Checkered House, 1955, oil and glitter on high-density fiberboard, 22 5⁄8 × 28 5⁄8 × 1 3⁄4 in. (57.5 × 72.7 × 4.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Kallir Family in Memory of Otto and Fanny Kallir, 2023.44, © Grandma Moses Properties Co., NY

Artwork Details

Title
Checkered House
Artist
Date
1955
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
22 5⁄8 × 28 5⁄8 × 1 3⁄4 in. (57.5 × 72.7 × 4.4 cm)
Copyright
© Grandma Moses Properties Co., NY
Credit Line
Gift of the Kallir Family in Memory of Otto and Fanny Kallir
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil and glitter on high-density fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Landscape
  • Animal — horse
  • Landscape — weather — snow
  • Architecture — vehicle — carriage
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
  • Architecture Exterior — farm — barn
Object Number
2023.44
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2023.44

Artwork Description

Until it burned in 1907, the "Checkered House" was a Cambridge, New York, landmark. Moses's first painting of it, from 1943, was included in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which inspired many clients to request versions for themselves.

Major James Cowden's log cabin hosted an important episode in the Revolutionary War. In 1777, Colonel Friedrich Baum and a detachment of British soldiers seized it to use as headquarters, but the Continental Army quickly ousted them and refashioned the house as a field hospital.

After the war, Cowden converted it yet again, this time into a tavern, adding clapboards painted in the flashy pattern that would make it a local legend. Moses painted this winter version in 1955. She relied on books for costuming figures from "way back in history," and merged the site's different historical moments to create a lively composition.

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