Gracious God, by whose grace artists receive an extra measure of insight into the infinite variety and scope of your vision of your creation: We give you thanks for the birth, on this date in 1888 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, of portraitist and landscape painter Horace Pippin. Though severely wounded in his painting arm during World War I, where his highly decorated, segregated regiment spent more time on the front lines than any other, he recovered and brought to life captivating glimpses of life in Jim Crow America. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
(Image: “Domino Players,” 1943; The Phillips Collection)