What a Farmwife Painted was the first solo exhibition of works by Grandma Moses at the Galerie St. Etienne in October 1940.
Moses’ first exhibition had taken place the previous year with three paintings in the exhibition "Contemporary Unknown American Painters", at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1939.Master Checklist for "Contemporary Unknown American Painters", MOMA, 1939 The interest generated there led to these three paintings The First Automobile, Home, and In the Maple Sugar Days being included in her first solo exhibition "What a Farmwife Painted" at the Galerie St. Etienne. It was organized by Louis J. Caldor and Otto Kallir and was a success, although Kallir felt the exhibition "included many of her early attempts in which her great talent was scarcely recognizable."What a Farmwife Painted discussed by Otto Kallir in Grandma Moses American Primitive, 1947
The list of 35 paintings included were referenced with numbers 1-34, taken from an old exhibition handout, in his 1976 catalogue raisonné by Otto Kallir:
title 1940 exhibition nr. 1973 Kallir nr. latest date painted collection / owner Down in the Glen 1 23 1940 Louis J. Caldor Where the Muddy Missouri Rolls 2 47 1940 Louis J. Caldor A Winter Sleigh Ride 3 74 1940 Louis J. Caldor Farm Along the River 4 21 1940 Louis J. Caldor Village in Winter 5 71 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Covered Wagon 6 17 1940 Louis J. Caldor Back Yard at Home 7 7 1940 Louis J. Caldor Starry Eyes (painted on tin) 8 53 1940 All Dressed Up for Sunday 9 3 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Guardian Angel 10 29 1940 Louis J. Caldor Hills of New England 11 48 1940 Mrs. Ian McDonald Bridge 12 10 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Burning of Troy 13 62 1939 Louis J. Caldor Home from the Honeymoon 14 35 1940 Louis J. Caldor Bringing in the Hay 15 30 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Old House at the Bend in the Road 16 40 1940 Louis J. Caldor; Bennington Museum (1995.13)The Old House at the Bend in the Road on the Bennington Museum website A Fire in the Woods 17 22 1940 Louis J. Caldor Sugar House among the Trees 18 55 1940 Harold L. Downey Bringing in the Maple Sugar 19 42 1939 Otto Kallir Shenandoah Valley, South Branch 20 51 1938 Louis J. Caldor Home 21 31 1939 Louis J. Caldor In the Maple Sugar Days 22 43 1939 Louis J. Caldor; Mr. & Mrs. Henry Matalene Jr. The First Automobile 23 6 1939 Louis J. Caldor Shenandoah Valley (1861 News of the Battle) 24 52 1938 Louis J. Caldor Cambridge in the Valley 25 11 1940 Louis J. Caldor Turkey in the Straw 26 63 1940 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kelly Vodrey On the Road to Greenwich (two sided painting) 27A 26 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Waterfalls (other side of two sided painting) 27B 72 1940 Louis J. Caldor Home for Thanksgiving 28 34 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Old Churchyard on Sunday Morning 29 15 1940 Louis J. Caldor Apple Pickers 30 5 1940 Louis J. Caldor At the Old Well 31 73 1940 Louis J. Caldor The Village by the Brookside 32 70 1940 Louis J. Caldor September Hills 33 50 1940 Mt. Nebo on the Hill (embroidery) 34 34W 1940 Louis J. Caldor
References
Otto Kallir, Grandma Moses, Complete edition, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1973