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For other uses, see American Gothic (disambiguation).
American Gothic
Grant Wood, 1930
Oil on beaverboard
74. Grant DeVolson Wood ( February 13, 1891 &ndash February 12, 1942) was an American painter, born in Anamosa, Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Oil painting is the process of painting with Pigments that are bound with a medium of Drying oil — especially in early modern Europe Linseed oil Beaverboard (also beaver board) is a light wood-like building material formed of Wood fibre compressed into sheets 3 × 62. 4 cm, 29¼ × 24½ in
Art Institute of Chicago

American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood from 1930. The Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's premier Fine art museums Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Grant DeVolson Wood ( February 13, 1891 &ndash February 12, 1942) was an American painter, born in Anamosa, Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Portraying a pitchfork-holding farmer and a younger woman (imagined to be his wife or daughter) in front of a house of Carpenter Gothic style, it is one of the most familiar images in 20th century American art. A pitchfork is an agricultural Tool with a long handle and long thin widely separated Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Sculpture of the United States Visual arts of the United States refers to the history of Painting and Visual art in the United States.

Wood wanted to depict the traditional roles of men and women as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hand labor. Wood referenced late 19th century photography and posed his sitters in a manner reminiscent of early American portraiture.

Contents

Creation

In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in Carpenter Gothic architecture in Eldon, Iowa. Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Eldon is a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 998 at the 2000 census Wood decided to paint the house along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house. "[1] He recruited his sister Nan to model the woman, dressing her in a colonial print apron mimicking 19th century Americana. Americana refers to artifacts of the Culture of the United States, the history and folklore resultant from its Westward expansion. The man is modeled on Wood's dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids (ˌciːdɪrˈræpɨds is the second largest City in the U The three-pronged hay fork is echoed in the stitching of the man's overalls, the Gothic window of the house and the structure of the man's face. Each element was painted separately; the models sat separately and never stood in front of the house.

Reception

The Carpenter Gothic style house in Eldon, Iowa depicted in American Gothic.
The Carpenter Gothic style house in Eldon, Iowa depicted in American Gothic. Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Eldon is a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 998 at the 2000 census

Wood entered the painting in a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's premier Fine art museums The judges deemed it a "comic valentine," but a museum patron convinced them to award the painting the bronze medal and $300 cash prize. The patron also convinced the Art Institute to buy the painting, where it remains today. The image soon began to be reproduced in newspapers, first by the Chicago Evening Post and then in New York, Boston, Kansas City, and Indianapolis. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous However, Wood received a backlash when the image finally appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The Gazette is a daily Newspaper published in the American city of Cedar Rapids Iowa. Iowans were furious at their depiction as "pinched, grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers". One farmwife threatened to bite Wood's ear off. Wood protested that he had not painted a caricature of Iowans but a depiction of Americans. Nan, apparently embarrassed at being depicted as the wife of someone twice her age, began telling people that the painting was of a man and his daughter, a point on which Wood remained silent. [1]

American Gothic (1942) by Gordon Parks was the first prominent parody of the painting.
American Gothic (1942) by Gordon Parks was the first prominent parody of the painting. For the Scottish sports journalist and former footballer see Gordon Parks (footballer Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks ( November 30, 1912

Art critics who had favorable opinions about the painting, such as Gertrude Stein and Christopher Morley, also assumed the painting was meant to be a satire of rural small-town life. Gertrude Stein ( February 3, 1874 &ndash July 27, 1946) was an American Writer who spent most of her life in France for the actor see Christopher Morley (actor Christopher Morley ( 5 May, 1890 – 28 March, 1957) It was thus seen as part of the trend towards increasingly critical depictions of rural America, along the lines of Sherwood Anderson's 1919 Winesburg, Ohio, Sinclair Lewis' 1920 Main Street, and Carl Van Vechten's The Tattooed Countess in literature. Sherwood Anderson (September 13 1876 &ndash March 8 1941 was an American writer mainly of short stories, most notably the collection Winesburg Ohio Winesburg Ohio is a 1919 short story cycle by the American author Sherwood Anderson. Sinclair Lewis ( February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American Novelist, Short-story writer and Main Street is a satirical Novel written by Sinclair Lewis, and published in 1920 Carl Van Vechten ( June 17, 1880 &ndash December 21, 1964) was an American Writer and Photographer who was a [1]

However, with the onset of the Great Depression, the painting came to be seen as a depiction of steadfast American pioneer spirit. Wood assisted this transition by renouncing his Bohemian youth in Paris and grouping himself with populist Midwestern painters, such as John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton, who revolted against the dominance of East Coast art circles. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city John Steuart Curry ( November 14, 1897 - August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned from 1924 Thomas Hart Benton ( April 15, 1889 - January 19, 1975) was an American painter and Muralist. Wood was quoted in this period as stating, "All the good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow. "[1] This Depression-era understanding of the painting as a depiction of an authentically American scene prompted the first well-known parody, a 1942 photo by Gordon Parks of cleaning woman Ella Watson, shot in Washington, D.C.[1]

Parodies

Main article: American Gothic in popular culture

American Gothic is one of the few images to reach the status of cultural icon, along with Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch's The Scream. For the Scottish sports journalist and former footballer see Gordon Parks (footballer Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks ( November 30, 1912 Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D This article addresses notable examples of references to the famous painting American Gothic in popular culture Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a Poplar panel by Edvard Munch (mʉŋk December 12, 1863 – January 23, 1944) was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, Printmaker The Scream ( Skrik, 1893-1910 is a seminal series of expressionist Paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch [1] It is thus one of the most reproduced — and parodied — images ever. A parody (ˈpɛɹədiː US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK) in contemporary usage is a work created to mock comment on or poke fun at an original work its subject Many artists have replaced the two people with other known couples and replaced the house with well known houses. References and parodies of the image have been numerous for generations, appearing regularly in such media as postcards, magazines, animated cartoons, advertisements, comic books, and television shows. A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick Paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an Envelope and Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Fineman, Mia, The Most Famous Farm Couple in the World: Why American Gothic still fascinates., Slate, 8 June 2005

External links

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