PICKETT, JOSEPH

born 1848, New Hope, Pa., U.S. died 1918, New Hope U.S. primitivist or folk painter known for his naive depictions of town and landscape around his native New Hope, Pa. After a life spent as a carpenter, shipbuilder, carny, and storekeeper, Joseph Pickett began painting when he was about 65. His works exemplify an untrained artist's detailed interest in local landscape and history, portrayed with straightforward disregard of perspective but with full sense of colour and flat pattern design; e.g., Manchester Valley (c. 191418; Museum of Modern Art, New York City). Pickett's works were not discovered by the art critics and public until the 1930s.