Old Black Joe

Horace Pippin took up painting after being injured in World War I, in which he fought with the 369th Infantry, a regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." Pippin's grandparents were enslaved and his life was fraught with poverty, segregation, and racism. Pippin never received any training in the arts, and he used his left hand to guide his debilitated right one when he worked. His paintings address the horrors of war and ongoing issues of social injustice.