A self-taught artist from Pennsylvania, Pippin only started making art at the age of 37, and later became one of the most recognized African American artists in the country. Based loosely on Arthurian legend, Lady of the Lake is Pippin’s lone painting of a female nude. She appears as a sunbather at the edge of the water, sitting with her face held up to the sun and next to a log cabin that seems too small to accommodate her. The cabin, canoe, Indian-style blanket, rose trellis, bricolage planters, and the lush, mountainous landscape suggest that Pippin mined many resources he knew close to home for the composition. (http://metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/482599)