Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Fame and Grandma Moses
Grandma Moses
Reading Comprehension for September 7
You might think your life would be nearly over by age 75. If you haven't become famous by then, you might as well pack it in. If you've lost your hair and gained wrinkles without finding success doing something you enjoy, you waited too long! You've lost your chance!
Or maybe not.
Anna Mary Robertson, a farmer's daughter, was born in upstate New York in September 1860. She grew up to become a farmer's wife. She married Thomas Moses and helped him farm land in Virginia for almost 20 years. Then they moved to a farm in New York. Anna Mary Robertson Moses spent the rest of her life in New York. She raised five children. She was widowed, and eventually she became a grandmother. Then, just when one might think she'd done all she was going to do, she began to paint. She was discovered by an art collector who helped her become famous! By the time she passed away at the advanced age of 101, Grandma Moses had created around 2,000 paintings! She became famous for her American Primitive artwork!
Farming was in Grandma Moses' blood. "If I didn't start painting, I would have raised chickens," she is remembered as saying. The only reason that she started painting was because arthritis prevented her from doing her needlework! She had enjoyed embroidering scenes on fabric with yarn. Pain in her hands forced her to give it up. It was easier to work with a brush and oil paints than with a needle and yarn. It satisfied her desire to create beautiful pictures.
