The Art of Horace Pippin | Word Power

There are many things in this life that we call art, and art does not take our understanding of any of the intricacies of color, light and shade, or the many different techniques there are in art, and that’s why art is truly for everyone. You might have heard of Da Vinci, Picasso, Monet and other great and famous painters, but in today’s Word Power episode, we will talk about one of the less talked about great painters of the twentieth century — we will talk about the art of Horace Pippin, and we will learn ten new words in the context of our story for today.

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Transcript

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There are many things in this life that we call art. And sometimes we don't really understand why things touch us so deeply. We don't need to understand the intricacies of color, light and shade and the numerous painting techniques to be able to appreciate art. And that's why art is truly for everyone. In today's episode, we're going to talk about one of the less talked about artists. I mean, you all know Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet, DaVinci, and other famous artists, by how many of you know of one of the shining stars of the 20th century art scene. In today's world power episode, we're going to talk about the art of Horace Pippin. You might have heard of him. You might not but don't worry, we're going to talk about it. In today's episode. This is your host, Danny and this is a new episode from English plus podcast. Before we start, let me remind you that you can practice what you're about to learn in this episode on my website, English plus podcast.com. There's a link in the show notes that will take you to the post I created specifically for this episode, you will find many different ways and exercises obviously, you can use to practice and master the words we're about to learn in the context of the art of horse Pippin. For those of you who love digital activities, and you don't have the time or means to print out worksheets I got you covered, you will find interactive activities on the website that you can do on your computers, phones, or any device you use. And for those of you who love doing exercises on paper, there's the PDF practice worksheet that you can download, printout and practice with the different fun activities I created for this episode. Don't miss out on this opportunity to make the words you're going to learn today part of your permanent active vocabulary bank. One more thing, if you really want to make the most of all that English plus has to offer, you can become a patron on Patreon and unlock exclusive content I create and post only for my patrons. You can also find the link to my Patreon page in the show notes. And that brings me to one of the newest additions to my English plus catalogue. Today, I will start English plus video series, we will have five new series going on with a new episode per series every week, the series are based on some of the best story rich video games. And you might be wondering, video games? And my answer to that. Absolutely. And why not. Of course, we're not going to talk about how to level up the mechanics or the games or stuff like that our focus is education in English plus, but again, why not relying on an attention grabbing suspenseful story that will keep you coming back to know what will happen next. And while doing that we will be practicing our English learning new words and expression in context to add to our speaking and writing arsenal. And for my patrons. There's the exclusive language practice and writing practice with every single episode. And when I say writing, that means there will be a prompt or an assignment, if you will, after every single episode that you can respond to. And I will see your responses one by one and answer them all with my own feedback that will help your writing skills and English get better. So it's not just about games anymore, right? Well, I believe that in order to learn, especially when we talk about a language, you need only two things. The first thing is that you need to be engaged because you will never learn anything from boring content, whether that comes in the form of text or audio or video. And that's why I chose some of the most engaging stories from video games. And the second thing you need is to be consistent. And while that is kind of your responsibility, I can help you with that when I create everything in English plus in the form of series to keep you coming back on certain days of the week and help you be more consistent. So do check out the trailers of the five new series you will find them on the homepage of the website. And starting from today, I will release a new episode every day and you episode per series every week. So you can pick the series you like the best or be more adventurous and watch all the series I'm creating. And don't forget that you can unlock the full learning experience if you become a patron but even if you choose not to do that you will still get to watch the series on my YouTube channel. So what's your excuse? Never stop learning with English plus, and with me your host Danny. And now without further ado, let's start today's word power episode The Art of Horace Pippin. But before we do that, let me tell you about the 10 words we're going to learn in context today. Our words for today are implausible confrontation One scrupulous Apogee calling vignette suffuse primitive, transient and exalt. Are you interested? Of course you are. And you're also interested in learning more about the art of horse Pippin. So let's do it. Let's kick off today's episode by talking about the art of Horace Pippin. During the 1930s, it was unlikely that a middle aged African American from a small town in Pennsylvania would achieve success as a painter. Add to this the fact that the man had never studied art had earned his living as a hotel Porter and use cloths peddler and had old but lost the use of his right arm. Horace Pippin had one of the most implausible careers in the history of 20th century art. born into a family just one generation removed from slavery. Pippin joined the Army in 1917 at the age of 29. While fighting with a celebrated 369th coloured Infantry Regiment in France, he was shot by a sniper as therapy for his injured arm, he started decorating discarded cigar boxes, whittling picture frames, and burning images on wood panels with a hot poker. It wasn't until 1930 that he tried oil painting for the first time propping up his right arm with his left hand. The subject of Horace Pippins earliest paintings is World War One. The somber polet and emphasis on weapons and confrontation suggest that he was summarizing his response to the devastation of Modern Warfare rather than evoking specific memories of combat. What is most interesting about these early efforts is the three dimensional effect of hundreds of layers of paint. Although Pippin subsequently abandoned such heavy layering, he continued to rely on scrupulously textured pigment, especially for foliage, textiles and atmospheric effects. Papers representations of African American life are considered to be the apogee of his achievements as a painter who was attentive to popular culture, calling images from magazines, films and illustrated calendars. He committed vignettes of family life and seasonal activities to wood panels from DOORS, tables, or furniture cases. Often the varnish of the original surface provided the principal coloring. A humble charm suffuses these memorable scenes alive with detail down to each Lacey edge of a doily, and every braid of a rag rug. In 1937, Horace Pippins paintings came to the attention of an art critic who encouraged him to contribute several works to an art show outside of Philadelphia. His paintings were so well received that he was asked to participate in the Museum of Modern Art's traveling exhibition of so called naive or primitive art. For a time Pippin was more famous than Grandma Moses with tributes from coast to coast and works reproduced in all the major magazines. Unfortunately, his fame was transient. He died in 1946, having completed 140 paintings, drawings and wood panels. In his short but extraordinary career, this self taught painter exalted the commonplace and commemorated his unique vision of history, nature, and people. So that was about the art of Horace Pippin. I hope you learned something new about this extraordinary artists that not a lot of people talk about. But for those of you who already know Horace Pippin, I hope you learned something new. But anyway, we're going to learn 10 words in the context of our story. So there's benefit for everybody who's listening, I hope and remember, again, our words are implausible confrontation scrupulous apogee, calling vignette suffuse primitive transit, and exalt that's coming next. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back. So let us start with the very first word implausible, I m p l, a U S. ible implausible. First, let's take a look at how we use it in context. And then of course, as usual, I'm going to ask you a question, give you four options and give you some time to think and choose the answer you think is correct. And then I'm going to talk more about the meaning of this word. So let's start with implausible first. How did we use that in context, we said, Horace Pippin had one of The most implausible careers in the history of 20th century art. Now which word or words could best replace implausible in this context? Can we say not noticeable? Difficult to believe? unwise or irritating? So not noticeable? Difficult to believe, unwise or irritating? Which one do you think is the best to replace implausible in this context? Think about it. And I'll be right back with the answer. Now, for those of you who thought difficult to believe you're absolutely right, because that is the answer. If you describe something as implausible, you believe that it is unlikely to be true. It's like improbable, incredible. And it was actually incredible. It was implausible with all the situations I told you about. I mean, the man was not trained, he kind of lost the use of his right arm. And of course, his background at the time with all the circumstances you're very well aware of his success as an artist was implausible, so difficult to believe. Incredible. And that was our first word for today's episode. And of course, as you know, we have 10 words. So we have nine words to go. The next word is confrontation. c o n, fronta, t i o n. confrontation, let's take a look at how we use that in context. And then I will ask you the question, the subject of Horace Pippins earliest paintings is World War One. The somber polet and emphasis on weapons and confrontation suggest that he was summarizing his response to the devastation of Modern Warfare rather than a evoking specific memories of combat. So confrontation in this context can best be described as what as a moral obligation as an amendment to a contract as a conflict or as a hopeless maneuver? Think about it. And I'll be right back with the answer and some more explanation. For those of you who thought conflict, you're absolutely right, because that is what confrontation means, especially in this context, a confrontation is a dispute fight or battle between two groups of people. So it is conflict fight, crisis, or contest or something like that. And that is our second word for today. confrontation. And that's not all. We still have the next word scrupulous. How do we spell this word? It's a C RUPU, l o u s. scrupulous. Let's take a look at how we use that in context. We said although Bibbins subsequently abandoned such heavy layering, he continued to rely on scrupulously textured pigment, especially for foliage, textiles and atmospheric effects, so scrupulous when we talk about scrupulous and here of course, we use it as an adverb, but the meaning is the same. So think about it. Which word or words could best replace scrupulously in this context? Can we say conscientiously and exactly, dutifully, temporarily or physically? So, which word or words do you think could best replace scrupulously in this context? Think about it, and I'll be right back with the answer. Now, for those of you who thought conscientiously and exactly you're absolutely right, that is the answer. So scrupulous. What does it mean? It means thorough, exact and careful about details. That's the meaning of scrupulous. Now, of course, it has other meanings, you might have heard of the word in different contexts, which means something that has to do with how moral a person can be scrupulous, being moral unscrupulous being immoral, man, that's right. But here, we're talking about it in a different context. And in our context, here, we're talking about something that is done thoroughly, exactly, and very carefully about every single detail of the work. And if you remember, in our context, we said on scrupulously textured pigments, so we're talking about something that has a lot of attention to detail, something that is done rigorously. Alright, that was our word. And that is one very nice word that you can add to your active vocabulary bank. So just do it. And remember, you can always go to my website, the link is in the show notes so that you can practice these words and make sure you will never forget them. But anyway, let's move on and continue to the very next word and this word is apogee, AP OG E apogee. How do we use that in context, we said Pippins representations of African American life are considered to be the apogee of his achievements. As a painter who was attentive to popular culture, we're talking about the apogee of his achievements. And Apogee can be best described as what as an unrealistic expectation as a high point as a crucial circumstance, or as a lifelike portrayal. Which one do you think is the right answer? Which one can best describe the word apogee? Think about it, and I'll be right back with the answer. Now, for those of you who thought high point is the answer, you're absolutely right. The apogee of something such as a culture or a business is its highest, or its greatest point. And here we're talking about the apogee of his achievements. As a painter, we're talking about the top of his achievement, the highest point of his achievements, and that is our new word apogee. And that's not everything, we still have more words, so don't go anywhere. Our next word is calling cu L L, I N G. And it comes from Cole, which is the verb actually see you ll. Let's take a look at how we use that in context. We said calling images from magazines, films and illustrated calendars. He committed vignettes of family life and seasonal activities to wood panels from DOORS, tables, or furniture cases. Here we have the word culling, which word could best replace culling in this context? Can we say selecting, discarding, building or ignoring? Think about it? And I'll be right back with the answer. Now, for those of you who thought selecting is the best word to replace culling in this context, you're absolutely right. Now if items or ideas are cold from a particular source, remember, coal is a verb. So cold cold calling is the same thing, right? So if items or ideas are culled from a particular source, or a number of sources, they are taken and gathered together. They are selected, collected, gathered and masked, if you will. So that's the meaning of calling. And in the very same context, we also used another word that is one of the key words we're going to talk about today. And this word is vignette. Now, how do we spell this word, it's a little bit difficult to spell so pay attention to its spelling. It's V IGNETTVIG, n e t t vignette. Let's remember again, how we use that word in context said calling images from magazines, films and illustrated calendars. He committed vignettes of family life and seasonal activities to wood panels from DOORS, tables, or furniture cases. So vignettes. A vignette can be best described as what, as an insult, as an alternative to painting as a formal portrait or as a short scene or incident. Which one do you think is the right answer? Think about it. And I'll be right back with the answer very shortly. Now, for those of you who thought short scene or incident, you're absolutely right, because that is what vignette is all about. A vignette is a short description, picture or piece of acting, which expresses very clearly and neatly, the typical characteristics of the thing that it represents. So it's a very good representation in a very short scenario, scene or sketch or painting, of course. So that is the vignette. And remember how we use that we said he committed vignettes of family life and seasonal activities, not long epics, no vignettes, very short sketches. Now for him, of course, we're talking about pictures and scenes. Right. So that is our word vignette. We still have four words to go. So don't go anywhere. We'll start with the very next word suffused that is Su FFUS II. How do we use that in context? We said a humble charm suffuses these memorable scenes alive was detailed down to each lacy edge of a doily and every braid of a rag rug. So my question to you is which word or words could best replace a fuses in this context? Can we use ruins, reverses, spreads through or reduces in intensity? Think about it, and I'll be right back with the answer. Now, for those of you who thought spreads through, you're absolutely right, because that is the meaning of suffused in this context. Now if something especially a color or feelings of uses a person or thing it gradually spreads over or through them. Now in a different sense, if something such as a book film or a piece of music is suffused with a quality it is full of that quality because that thing spreads through the entirety of it. Alright, that's the meaning of suffused a very useful word to talk about deep things, especially when it comes to art or movies and books or anything else for that matter. But anyway, that was our word, suffuse. And the next word we're going to talk about is primitive p r i, m i t i v e primitive. How do we use that in context, who said his paintings were so well received that he was asked to participate in the Museum of Modern Art's traveling exhibition of so called naive or primitive art? So we have primitive in this context? Which word or words could best replace primitive in this context? Can we replace primitive with happening regularly? Suitable, simple and unsophisticated? Or complex and sophisticated? Which one do you think is the best to replace primitive in this context? Think about it. And I'll be right back with the answer. Now, for those of you who thought simple and unsophisticated, you're absolutely right. That's the meaning of primitive. If you describe something as primitive, you mean that it is very simple in style, or sometimes we can use that to talk about something that is very old fashioned, but that doesn't have to be a negative word. Sometimes simple things are simply the best. But anyway, that was our word primitive. And now for our last two words for today's episode, transient and exalt. Let's start with transient, how do we spell this word transient is spelled t r a n s, i e, n T transient? How do we use that in context, we said, unfortunately, his fame and here of course, we're talking about Horace Pippin. His fame was transient. He died in 1946, having completed 140 paintings, drawings and wood panels. So something that is transient can best be described as what, as extraordinary as of brief duration, as intensely felt or as unexpected. Which one do you think is the right answer? Think about it. And I'll be right back with the answer very soon. Don't go anywhere. Now, for those of you who thought of brief duration, you're absolutely right. That is the answer. Transient is used to describe a situation that lasts only a short time, or we can use that sometimes to talk about something that is constantly changing. Now, of course, in our context, it means something that lasts only a short time because the man died early. He died in 1946. He could have had a longer career, he could have been celebrated for a lot more time in his lifetime, of course, but his fame was transient. And because he did something wrong, not because he was not good anymore, but because he died in 1946. So transient, in this context, we're talking about something brief, short term or temporary. So that is our word transient. Now for our very last word for today's episode, it is exalt e x alt exalt, how do we use that in context, we said in his short but extraordinary career, this self taught painter exalted the commonplace and commemorated his unique vision of history, nature, and people. So which word or words do you think could best replace exalted in this context? Can we use elevated substituted, developed gradually, or concealed? What do you think is the best word to replace exalted in this context? Think about it. And I'll be right back with the final answer for today's episode. So don't go anywhere. For those of you who thought elevated is the answer, you're absolutely right, because that is one word we can use to replace exalted in this context. to exalt someone or something means to praise them very highly. It's like praise, tribute or worship. And here when we say the painter exalted the commonplace, that means elevated the commonplace to a better position to a high position. And that happened, why because he praised them very highly. He exalted these things. And that was our last word for today's episode. Remember, we talked about implausible we talked about confrontation, scrupulous apogee, calling, vignette suffuse primitive, transient and finally exalt. And with that we come to the end of today's episode. I hope you learned something useful today, both in the story itself, the art of Horace Pippin, and in the words that we learned in context and don't forget if you want to take it a step further, and you should to be honest, if you really want to keep Keep these words as part of your active vocabulary bank, you should practice these words and I got you covered. For those of you who like the digital version you like to do things on your mobile phone or on your computers, there are interactive activities you can do on the website without having to write on paper. And for those of you who liked pen and paper, there's also a PDF practice worksheet that you can download, printout and practice to your heart's content. All of these are available on the special post I created for this episode, the link in the show notes will take you there and there you can practice and make sure that you add these words to your permanent active vocabulary bank. And don't forget about the new video series that are starting today. So we have five series one new episode every day. So that means one new episode per week. For every single series we're adding and we have five new series, I'm pretty sure that you're going to find at least one of them interesting enough for you to stick around and come back every week to learn more about it. Now I have to remind you that these series are not going to be available on the podcast, our series on the podcast are different. These are audio series and we're going to continue in the same fashion but these are video series that are available on my YouTube channel and on my website. And don't forget about the great benefits you get and the great learning opportunities that you get when you become a patron so consider that as well. The link is in the description so you can take the link become a patron and take your English and learning to the next level. Don't forget never stop learning with English plus and with me your host Danny, thank you very much for listening to another episode from English plus podcast. I will see you next time.