Halloween 1955

Curator: Here we have Grandma Moses's "Halloween," an oil on canvas painted in 1955. What’s your first take? Editor: Well, immediately I’m struck by the eerie yet inviting mood. The darkness of the sky, the lone moon, but also, the cozy glow emanating from the houses. Curator: Exactly. And when we look closer, the composition teems with signs of labor. See the figures hoisting what seems like hay onto a roof, or others lugging barrels of apples? These rural activities underscore the connection between community and seasonal harvest. Editor: It’s more than harvest; look at the playful ghost figures, and those little glowing jack-o'-lanterns scattered about. There’s a real dialogue between work and ritual, production and celebration. Note, too, the prominence of doorways, framing moments of passage between the visible world outside, and something less easily knowable that may be lurking inside. Curator: Indeed. Let's consider how she uses these materials and her naive style. Her application of the paint itself creates this kind of raw, immediate quality, almost child-like, defying formal academic conventions of the time, creating an approachable entry point for broader audiences. Editor: Yes! It almost renders the symbols more potent. We readily engage because it doesn't feel intimidating, artistically. We bring our own emotional associations with the Halloween symbols: costumes, the excitement of a world turned upside down, the promise – or threat – of the unknown. What's also particularly interesting is her rendition of interiors. There are scenes that may feel commonplace, someone lying on a couch near a fireplace, people gathered, creating this contrast with the uncanny feeling outside. Curator: Perhaps her focus on the tactile elements, the raw nature of rural existence, allows us to consider folk art as not just a genre, but also a form of material practice, steeped in the everyday experience of a bygone era. The figures are also a reminder that it takes work to both build the foundation of a civilization, and maintain cultural beliefs. Editor: Right, both feed into one another. And those cultural beliefs…those stories – passed on through symbols – allow us to continually process and mediate what can’t otherwise be understood. Looking at Moses's Halloween scene really prompts one to remember, on every level, where we came from. Curator: It reminds me that, through her simple approach, Grandma Moses offers a window into the intricate relationship between rural production, artistic creation, and communal traditions. Editor: And I leave thinking about what remnants of these seasonal rituals we still participate in, perhaps without even realizing their deeper connections to both social bonds and unseen worlds.