Magically bringing the sights, sounds, and sprit of the holiday season to life, Grandma Moses's unique illustrations elevate Moore's text to a new level. Readers will delight as they escape the commercialism of today's holiday season and share in the experience of a real New England Christmas. Like a warm cup of cocoa on a snowy evening, the book envelops you in the comfort of tradition, innocence and simplicity. Author, curator, and principal of Grandma Moses Properties, Jane Kallir has provided an introduction highlighting Grandma Moses's impact on the art world, and on America in the postwar years. This fully authorized edition of The Night Before Christmas is the perfect gift for children, adults, fans of Grandma Moses, and art lovers.
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About the Author
Grandma Moses (1860-1961) is one of the most important self-taught artists of the 20th century, achieving a celebrity that transcended the normal boundaries of the folk-art movement. In the post-WWII years, Moses (born Anna Mary Robertson) was one of the most successful and famous artists in America. Clement Clarke Moore was an academic, author, and poet who lived and worked in New York City. He is best known for writing this Christmas poem, first published anonymously, in 1823. He died in 1863.
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Foreword copyright © 2007 by Jane Kallir Anna Mary Robertson was born on September 7, 1860, on a farm in upstate New York, one of a family of ten children. At the age of 27, she married Thomas Salmon Moses, and the couple established themselves as tenant farmers in Virginia. Anna Mary and Thomas spent nearly two decades in Virginia, during which time they raised five children and gradually earned enough money to buy their own farm. In 1905, the Moses family returned to New York, settling in Eagle Bridge not far from Anna Mary's birthplace. Anna Mary had always liked pretty things, but managing a household left little room for art. In the 1930s, however, she had more free time, as her children were grown and her husband had recently passed away. So she began to embroider pictures, which were much admired by friends and relatives. When arthritis made it painful for Anna Mary to wield a needle, her sister suggested that it might be easier to paint. It was this pivotal suggestion that launched Grandma Moses, then in her 70s, on her painting career. Grandma Moses is usually characterized as a "folk" or "naïve" artist, terms reserved for those who have never had formal training in art. She first received broader recognition when an amateur art collector, Louis J. Caldor, saw her works in a Hoosick Falls, New York, drugstore window. Not only did he purchase all of the works on display but, in 1939, he convinced the Museum of Modern Art to include Moses in a members-only show of contemporary folk painting. The following year, Caldor met New York gallery owner Otto Kallir, who agreed to mount a one-woman exhibition at his Galerie St. Etienne. Moses' first show, "What a Farmwife Painted," opened on October 9, 1940, to favorable reviews. Charmed by her down-home personality, her biography, and her paintings, the world gradually became transfixed by the artist, and she developed an enormous following. When Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961, at the age of 101, she was one of the most beloved artists in the United States and arguably the best-known American artist in the world. Moses began working on the illustrations for Clement C. Moore' classic poem The Night Before Christmas in 1960. Although she preferred realistic subjects to invented ones, the artist had long been associated with the Christmas season by virtue of her cheery snows scenes, which were frequently reproduced on popular holiday greeting cards. Ever eager to rise to a new challenge, at the age of 100 Moses accepted a commission unlike anything she had ever before attempted. The results, first published in 1962, are among the artist's most imaginative and charming paintings. This beautifully re-designed edition of the book will bring Grandma Moses' inspirational illustrations to a new generation.
--Jane Kallir
Co-Director, Galerie St. Etienne, NY
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More About the Author
Clement Clarke Moore was a professor of religion and the author of several scholarly works. What he is most remembered for, however, is his poem "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas," later called "The Night Before Christmas," and written as a Christmas gift for his six children.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful book,
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This review is from: The Night Before Christmas (Hardcover)
Our family had a copy of this book, with the Grandma Moses illustrations, for more than 50 years-On Christmas Eve, we children, then grandchildren, would read this aloud right before bed-The book was lost in Hurricane Katrina-I found this copy on Amazon and sent it to my New Orleans family last Christmas as a surprise-It looks as close to the original as I think probably exists-Needless to say, tears flowed and a sentimental but good time was had by all!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book for all ages,
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This review is from: The Night Before Christmas (Hardcover)
We visited the Grandma Moses' Museum in Vermont a couple of months ago and saw this book. We bought one and found it to be an excellent way to introduce our grandchildren not only to a favorite Christmas story but the art of Grandma Moses as well. It was super to find the book on Amazon as well at a much cheaper price. So.....we ordered several for gifts even for some of our adult friends. The book is a gem. Tom Sneed
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
nice book,
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This review is from: The Night Before Christmas (Hardcover)
i ordered this book so I could start the tradition with my children. it is a nice book, although if I would have seen it in the book store I might have picked another. the picture are nice, just not what I was looking for.
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