Horace Pippin
Pippin’s modern image of John Brown had contemporary resonance. Despite Brown’s actions, the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation of enslaved African Americans, institutionalized racism and Jim Crow segregation proliferated in the decades following the Civil War. Pippin was one of the most important African American artists of the 20th century. After bravely volunteering to fight in World War I, he served in a segregated unit, the famous 369th Infantry “Harlem Hellfighters” Regiment.
What resonates about the story of John Brown today?
John Brown was indicted for his attempt to start a slave rebellion on October 26, 1859. Placed on trial the next day, he was sentenced to death on November 2. Brown, who suffered a head wound while captured, is accurately depicted here being tried while lying on a stretcher; an open bible and a carpetbag filled with incriminating letters are shown beside him. The prosecutor holds Brown’s rifle in his hand, and the jury, composed of 12 nearly identical men, confront the viewer in their judgment.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
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