The grandparents of Horace Pippin, a Pennsylvania artist, were slaves. His grandmother witnessed the hanging of John Brown, and this painting recalls the scene she so often described to him. Pippin used a muted palette to establish the bleak setting, but he also managed to convey its striking intensity. Historically accurate, the painting depicts Brown tied and sitting erect on his coffin, passing resolutely before the silent, staring white men. The black woman in the lower right corner presumably is Pippin’s grandmother. Romare Bearden, another African American artist, recalled the central place of John Brown in black memory: “Lincoln and John Brown were as much a part of the actuality of the Afro-American experience, as were the domino games and the hoe cakes for Sunday morning breakfast. I vividly recall the yearly commemorations for John Brown.” Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. John Lambert Fund.

READING THE IMAGE: What was the artist trying to convey about the tone of John Brown’s execution? According to the painting, what were the feelings of those gathered to witness the event?

CONNECTIONS: How did Brown’s trial and execution contribute to the growing split between North and South?