folkartwork

HORRACE PIPPIN Illustrations from War Journals (c. 1917-1920s)

via Smithsonian American Art Museum

Horace Pippin (1888–1946) was an American painter who painted a range of themes, including scenes inspired by his service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and biblical subjects. Some of his best-known works address the U.S.’s history of slavery and racial segregation.

Per The Met Museum’s “Considering Horace Pippin” by Bryan Martin:

“In 1917, at the age of twenty-nine, Pippin enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was assigned to the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all-Black group of soldiers. Pippin wrote a vivid account of his service in a sixty-one-page journal containing numerous battlefield illustrations.

These writings provide a detailed account of Pippin’s life-altering injury. When Pippin and his comrade were pinned down in a shell hole by surrounding machine guns and snipers, the two attempted to flank a German soldier. As Pippin moved to another shell hole, a bullet struck him.

More than just a recollection of events, Pippin’s journal strikingly captures a horrific incident that left him with a physical disability for the rest of his life.

In 1919, after the war concluded, Pippin came home with a steel plate connecting his crippled right arm to his shoulder. He was given a disability pension of $22.50 per month, which would be approximately $400 today.”

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