Vintage History: Suffering Moses
Suffering Moses appears to be the artist’s name for a collection of artists over the past fifty to seventy years. I've struggled to find anything but anecdotal information about the artist, and only learned of them when I found the mortar and pestle in our Herbalism Book Set. They all appear to be hand-painted papier mâché and brass in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The story of Suffering Moses is a charming—and possibly enhanced—one that's a little hazy.
The things I can be sure of: The artist(s) is from a junk shop in Kashmir, which is today known as Suffering Moses. (photos) Earlier reports, however, do not cite the artist and business sharing the same name. (report1, report2, report3, report4). All of these reports include a similar structure—wandering tourist encounters amazing artist, usually an elderly Kashmiri man. They talk, artist introduces himself, and the tourist asks, "Why ‘Suffering?’ " The artist answers with some variation on "life is suffering and I alleviate it through my art." Due to the length of time between these reports and the dates on artwork I've encountered, the artist is clearly not always the same old man.
If you know anything more about artist Suffering Moses, please share with me—I find the story fascinating.
