Question 1

True or false: Grandma Moses painted exclusively from imagination, never using photographs or real-life models.

Accepted Answer

False. While she painted rural scenes from memory, she sometimes used magazine cutouts and postcards as references for details.

Question 2

True or false: Grandma Moses was a trained art student who studied at the Art Students League in New York.

Accepted Answer

False. Grandma Moses had no formal art training. She was entirely self-taught, which made her folk art style unique.

Question 3

True or false: Grandma Moses didn't start painting seriously until she was in her late 70s.

Accepted Answer

True. Anna Mary Robertson Moses began painting in her 70s after arthritis made embroidery too difficult. She became famous at 78.

Question 4

True or false: Grandma Moses was a prolific painter, producing over 1,000 paintings in her lifetime.

Accepted Answer

True. Grandma Moses created over 1,600 paintings in her lifetime, making the statement true.

Question 5

True or false: Grandma Moses received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Russell Sage College in 1949.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1949, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by Russell Sage College in New York, despite having no formal education.

Question 6

True or false: Grandma Moses' work was featured on a U.S. postage stamp while Grandma Moses was still alive.

Accepted Answer

False. Grandma Moses died in 1961. The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp featuring her painting 'Fourth of July' in 1969, eight years after her death. Thus, it was not issued while she was alive.

Question 7

True or false: Before gaining national fame, Grandma Moses's paintings often sold for under $10.

Accepted Answer

True. In the 1930s, she sold her paintings for $3 to $5 at a drugstore. Later, originals sold for thousands.

Question 8

True or false: Grandma Moses was a direct descendant of the famous American poet Emily Dickinson.

Accepted Answer

False. No relation exists. This myth likely arose because both were reclusive, rural New Englanders, but their families are not connected.

Grandma Moses Trivia Questions