Artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Grandma Moses) (1860 - 1961)

The Old Oaken Bucket

Date1943

DimensionsSight: 25 × 31 in. (63.5 × 78.7 cm)

Object numberN0414.1967

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Mrs Stephen C. Clark

Image Copyright Holders: Grandma Moses Properties, Co. & Galerie St. Etien Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextWhile working on the farm of Mrs. David Burch, Moses was told that the farm’s well inspired the song, “The Old Oaken Bucket.” Paul Dennis, a relative of Mrs. Burch, had fallen in love with a neighbor’s daughter. Her parents objected to the relationship, however, and the relationship languished. Dennis went to sea for several years. According to Mrs. Burch, while away, he wrote the poem and upon returning home gave the poem to a printer. Samuel Woodworth published the poem as his own in 1817 and Dennis was never credited.

In 1941 the first version of this painting won a New York State prize at the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts (now the Everson Museum of Art). In her desire to satisfy her patrons, Moses repeated the subject many times, but no two paintings were alike.
Exhibition History“Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation,” John and Mabel Ringling Museum, Sarasota, FL, January 25, 2008 – April 18, 2008; The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, September 8, 2007 – January 6, 2008; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN, May 19, 2007 – August 12, 2007; Reynolda House Museum of American Art, January 27, 2007 – April 22, 2007.

On View

Not on view