Hazel Knapp, a self-taught artist with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, painted Vermont landscapes from her wheelchair between the 1930s and 1940s, often with her mother Elsie by her side describing the terrain. Knapp exhibited at the 1939 Museum of Modern Art show alongside Grandma Moses and Morris Hirshfield, was profiled in Sidney Janis's book *They Taught Themselves*, and sold ten paintings to Gertrude Stein, who planned an unrealized Paris exhibition. Despite this promising start, Knapp fell into obscurity after her mother's death.
Knapp's story matters because it highlights the overlooked role of caretakers in art history and the challenges faced by artists with disabilities. Her rediscovery comes as the art world increasingly examines care, disability, and accessibility through exhibitions like MCASD's *For Dear Life* and Carolyn Lazard's *Two-way* (2025). Knapp's trajectory—from early acclaim to erasure—raises questions about which artists are remembered and why, and underscores the need to recover marginalized narratives.