dolce vita: Having Fun with American Gothic

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Having Fun with American Gothic

I'm taking a break from Christmas stuff, even though I still need to post pics from our gingerbread men cookie making adventure.

American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood

"American Gothic" is a familiar and iconic piece of 20^th century art painted in 1930 by Grant Wood. At first glance it is recognizable and conjures up images of a hard working mid-western couple with lots of chores in their lives but maybe not many reasons to rejoice. It is a bit of a harsh rendition of the characters, especially of the woman. It has become an icon of American popular culture to parody this picture.

While searching for a bit of background information about this painting, I discovered that the artist himself said he saw the house and wanted to imagine the type of people that lived in that sort of house. That is what he painted. The house, evidently, is located in Eldon, Iowa. The artist used his sister an a model for the woman and his dentist as the inspiration for the man and it is supposed to depict a man and his spinster daughter, not a couple, which was news to me.

Iowans were not too pleased at being painted in this way when the painting first came out, and one farmers wife even threatened to bite off Wood's ear because she was so offended by the painting. The artist assured them he was not making a statement particularly about Iowa farmers but feathers had already been ruffled by then. The painting won a $300.00 prize for being a comical depiction and the Art Institute of Chicago purchased it. The original "American Gothic" can still be seen there today.