The Trial of John Brown

Horace Pippin

1888–1946

The Trial of John Brown, 1942

Oil on canvas

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd

Abolitionist John Brown was tried for his failed attempt to start a rebellion among enslaved people in October 1859. In self-taught artist Horace Pippin’s re-creation of this trial, Brown is shown lying on a stretcher, with the head wound he suffered during his capture visible. The prosecutor holds Brown’s rifle, while the white men of the jury sit in judgment.

Many of Pippin’s paintings focus on the American slavery period. Pippin’s grandparents were born enslaved, and his grandmother witnessed Brown being taken to his hanging. In Pippin’s 1942 painting of this event (left), his grandmother appears as the sole Black figure. Facing the viewer, she acts simultaneously as a mourner, witness, and narrator.