Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector193118 x 21 " (45.7 x 53.3 cm)
Frame: 25 1/8 x 28 1/4 x 2 3/8 " (63.8 x 71.8 x 6 cm)Oil on fabricGift of Patricia L. and Maurice C. Thompson Jr.1999.25.111540442666Horace PippinPaintingsCopyright for this work is under review.http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster26674West ChesterWest ChesterUnited StatesPennsylvaniaPaintingsGalerie St. Etienne, Masters of Naive Art: Daimaru Museums, Japan, 1989. West ChesterHorace Pippin served during World War I in the respected Fifteenth Regiment of the New York National Guard, an all-black infantry unit under French command. Spending more time abroad than any other infantry, its members exhibited enough heroics during the war to be nicknamed the “Hell Fighters” by the Germans. Pippin was wounded and sent home after serving one year. Ten years later, he started painting scenes of his war memories. Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector is an early painting executed with his typical palette of grays, browns, and black. The confrontation it depicts occurs in the shadow: two men are standing in a trench, with an American soldier entering from the left. His French helmet, gear, and weapons might indicate that he is a member of Pippin’s regiment. On the right, a German soldier in a pale blue uniform and beret, with a scorn in the face, stands beside a sentry box. Silhouetted and hiding behind a bed of sandbags in the center of the composition are more American soldiers. While Pippin’s war paintings—his first subject matter— document a particular moment in global history, they also subtly address the issues of race and injustice in American life. Valérie Rousseau, exhibition label for Six Decades Collecting Self-Taught Art: Revealing a Diverse and Rich Artistic Narrative. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2019.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org During World War I, Horace Pippin served in the well-known and respected Fifteenth Regiment of the New York National Guard, an all-black infantry unit. The regiment served under French command because of the U.S. Army’s concern over integration. Spending more time abroad than any other infantry, its members exhibited enough heroics during the war to be nicknamed the “Hell Fighters” by the Germans. Pippin was wounded and sent home after serving one year. Ten years later, he started painting scenes of his memories of the war, although his right arm had to be supported by his left hand whenever he worked at his easel. Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector is an early painting, executed only three years after the artist started to explore paint. The subdued palette of grays, browns, and black is typical of the artist. It is as if the entire confrontation occurs in shadows. Two men are standing in a trench. An American soldier enters from the left; judging by his French helmet, gear, and weapons, he is probably a member of Pippin’s regiment. On the right, a German soldier in a pale blue uniform and beret stands beside a sentry box. The scorn on the face of this soldier is the only emotion apparent in the painting, and it creates a vast distance between the two men. Silhouetted and hiding behind a bed of sandbags in the center of the composition are more American soldiers. While Pippin’s war paintings—his first subject matter—document a particular moment in global history, they also subtly address the issues of race and injustice in American life.
Valérie Rousseau, “Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014. http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster26674http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster26674http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster2667419311931 1999 25 1 Horace Pippin served during World War I in the respected Fifteenth Regiment of the New York National Guard, an all-black infantry unit under French command. Spending more time abroad than any other infantry, its members exhibited enough heroics during the war to be nicknamed the “Hell Fighters” by the Germans. Pippin was wounded and sent home after serving one year. Ten years later, he started painting scenes of his war memories. Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector is an early painting executed with his typical palette of grays, browns, and black. The confrontation it depicts occurs in the shadow: two men are standing in a trench, with an American soldier entering from the left. His French helmet, gear, and weapons might indicate that he is a member of Pippin’s regiment. On the right, a German soldier in a pale blue uniform and beret, with a scorn in the face, stands beside a sentry box. Silhouetted and hiding behind a bed of sandbags in the center of the composition are more American soldiers. While Pippin’s war paintings—his first subject matter— document a particular moment in global history, they also subtly address the issues of race and injustice in American life. Valérie Rousseau, exhibition label for Six Decades Collecting Self-Taught Art: Revealing a Diverse and Rich Artistic Narrative. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2019.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org During World War I, Horace Pippin served in the well-known and respected Fifteenth Regiment of the New York National Guard, an all-black infantry unit. The regiment served under French command because of the U.S. Army’s concern over integration. Spending more time abroad than any other infantry, its members exhibited enough heroics during the war to be nicknamed the “Hell Fighters” by the Germans. Pippin was wounded and sent home after serving one year. Ten years later, he started painting scenes of his memories of the war, although his right arm had to be supported by his left hand whenever he worked at his easel. Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector is an early painting, executed only three years after the artist started to explore paint. The subdued palette of grays, browns, and black is typical of the artist. It is as if the entire confrontation occurs in shadows. Two men are standing in a trench. An American soldier enters from the left; judging by his French helmet, gear, and weapons, he is probably a member of Pippin’s regiment. On the right, a German soldier in a pale blue uniform and beret stands beside a sentry box. The scorn on the face of this soldier is the only emotion apparent in the painting, and it creates a vast distance between the two men. Silhouetted and hiding behind a bed of sandbags in the center of the composition are more American soldiers. While Pippin’s war paintings—his first subject matter—document a particular moment in global history, they also subtly address the issues of race and injustice in American life.
Valérie Rousseau, “Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.