John McCrady (American/Mississippi, 1911-1968) , "The Old Woman and The Pig", 1964-65, carbon acrylic on masonite, signed lower right, titled lower left, label with artist, title and medium and "New Orleans Museum of Art/ John McCrady Retropective" label with title and date on backing paper, 17 1/2 in. x 24 3/4 in., original artist frame. Provenance: Descended in the family of the artist . Exh.: "John McCrady 1911-1968". New Orleans Museum of Art. Sept. 26 - Nov. 2, 1975; and illustrated in accompanying catalogue #44. Note: In the catalogue for the 1975 retrospective of John McCrady’s work at the New Orleans Museum of Art, curator Keith Marshall writes, “[McCrady’s] decision to paint the rural South was not an objective choice; it was a necessity.” McCrady painted the rural life and people he knew from his youth in Mississippi and adulthood in New Orleans, often taking inspiration from gospel music and folktales. The work offered here entitled “The Old Woman and the Pig,” was inspired by the nursery rhyme of the same name, a cumulative tale meant to teach children the chain of cause and effect. At the end of the story, the old woman succeeds in getting the stubborn pig to go over the stile. Although originally an English folktale, McCrady places the action in the rural south. Using a technique he invented, he layered acrylic paint over a carbon drawing. With this method, he paints layers of dark blue and teal making the skies overhead look ominous, a warning of the struggles to come as the woman fights to get the animal home after purchasing it at market. Ref.: Marshall, Keith. John McCrady 1911-1968. New Orleans: New Orleans Museum of Art, 1975. p. 49.