Untitled (Fireboard)

Copied Grandma Moses, Untitled (Fireboard), 1918, oil on paper on canvas, 33 1⁄16 × 40 1⁄16 × 2 in. (84.0 × 101.7 × 5.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2024.37.1, © Grandma Moses Properties Co., New York

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Fireboard)
Artist
Date
1918
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
33 1⁄16 × 40 1⁄16 × 2 in. (84.0 × 101.7 × 5.1 cm)
Copyright
© Grandma Moses Properties Co., New York
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paper on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Exterior — detail — fence
  • Landscape — lake
  • Landscape — tree
Object Number
2024.37.1

Artwork Description

Moses's earliest surviving painting--on a hearth cover, or fireboard--evidences a moment in which creativity and housework came together. The fireboard references a style of landscape painting popularized by artist and inventor Rufus Porter (1792--1884). It also reflects the artist's own childhood, when painted walls and furnishings were common in East Coast taverns, inns, and homes.

Moses noted that her father had painted directly on the walls of their home, which would have been her most immediate source of inspiration. Some accounts suggest that Moses may have similarly painted "wallpaper" pictures in one of her family's Virginia homes, but no photographs to verify this story are known to exist.

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