“Next to Grandma Moses, my Favorite Artist is Rubens”

This painting resides in the permanent collection of the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut. At the time, this museum was one of three museums in the country that specialized in American art. A woman I met was talking about self-taught artists, and said to me, “next to Grandma Moses, my favorite artist is Rubens.” I found this very amusing and decided to paint it. Throughout the painting are numerous vignettes found in Ruben’s paintings. Mrs. Rubens is looking out one of the upstairs windows in disapproval at what’s going on down below.