Американская Готика
Это было в поездке в Мюнхен в 1928 году, где он контролировал производство витражного стекла, которое разработал для Мемориального здания ветеранов в Сидар-Рапид, Вуд сделал открытие, которое в конечном счете изменило направление его искусства и привело к славе
Увидев работы немецких и фламандских мастеров 15-го и 16-го веков, чей реализм и внимание к деталям подтолкнули, Вуда вернуться в Соединенные Штаты, решив интегрировать только что изобретенный подход в свою собственную работу
Оказавшись от своих ранних импрессионистских взглядов, Вуд начал формировать более реалистичный стиль, с помощью которого можно передать сельскую тематику, которой он дорожил с юности. Одна из его первых картин этого периода также является его самой известной: «Американская готика». Показывая фермера (смоделированного со стоматолога Вуда) и женщину, которая является либо его женой, либо дочерью (по образцу сестры Вуда), стоически стоящими перед белым фермерским хозяйством. «Американская готика» была выставлена в Институте искусств в Чикаго в 1930 году и получила немедленное признание. С тех пор этот образ стал одним из самых узнаваемых в истории искусства США. По словам Вуда, порой его работа интерпретируется как пародия, на самом деле она предназначена для утверждения явно среднезападного предмета и подразумеваемых ценностей, стоящих отдельно от крупных американских городов и, тем более, европейской культуры.
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1931)
“Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” paints a picture of the famous American patriot, Paul Revere, during an iconic moment in American history — his midnight ride on the eve of April 18, 1775, to warn of the coming of British soldiers.
What makes this painting stand out is its unique perspective. It portrays Revere’s night ride through the brightly illuminated town of Lexington, Massachusetts, from a bird’s eye view. It offers a glimpse of how bustling the town might have looked that fateful night. The painting is not merely an illustration of historical facts, it was inspired by a renowned poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride” penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1860.
A fun fact about this great masterpiece lies in its details. Would you believe that Wood used a child’s hobby horse as a model for Revere’s horse? This little detail showcases the artist’s approach to his work. “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” is more than just a painting. It is a blend of history, poetry, and artistic improvisation.
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Grant Wood, 1931, Wikimedia Commons
Dinner for Threshers (1934)
“Dinner for Threshers” is a painting that draws from Grant Wood’s childhood experiences living on an Iowa farm. Each year, there was a grand ritual — the harvest of the winter wheat or oat crop.
The local men garbed in jeans overalls, toiled in the fields. Women and children bustled in the kitchens, preparing a midday feast or “dinner”, as it was known in the Midwest. The painting gives us an intimate peek into a farmhouse, echoing a work of Renaissance art that depicted Christ’s Last Supper.
This comparison assigns an almost religious significance to the farmers’ meal. However, Wood steers clear of the bleak reality of the 1930s Great Depression in his piece. In fact, Iowa had one of the hardest hits, with a quarter of farms failing due to a brutal drought in the early part of the decade.
A study of this iconic painting, crafted with charcoal, pencil and chalk on brown paper, went up for sale in 2014. It fetched a staggering $1,565,000 at a Christie’s auction.
Dinner for Threshers by Grant Wood, 1934, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Смерть и наследие
За день до своего 51-го дня рождения Вуд скончался в университетской больнице от рака поджелудочной железы . Он похоронен на кладбище Риверсайд, Анамоса, Айова .
1980 Грант Вуд Один Унция 24-каратного Золотая медаль
Когда Вуд умер, его поместье перешло к его сестре Нэн Вуд Грэм , женщине, изображенной в американской готике . Когда она умерла в 1990 году, ее поместье, вместе с личными вещами Вуда и различными произведениями искусства, стало собственностью Художественного музея Фигге в Давенпорте, штат Айова . В 2009 году Грант был удостоен премии штата Айова — высшей награды гражданина штата.
В его честь был назван корабль «Свобода» времен Второй мировой войны SS Grant Wood .
Self-Portrait (1932)
Grant Wood’s “Self-Portrait” (1932) is a striking piece. It truly shines a light on Wood’s intricate dance with European art styles. Think oil glazes on wood panels, an age-old technique used by Renaissance masters. He takes this up a notch by borrowing pointillism from Seurat’s playbook, a popular method that uses tiny dots of color to form pictures.
But Wood is nowhere near a European countryside or historic cityscape. No, he’s front and center amid the rolling plains of rural Iowa. Details in the painting pull you further into this narrative — a quintessential windmill turning in the breeze and corn shocks lined up like obedient soldiers.
These items aren’t just decor. They are powerful symbols of the Iowan countryside, tugged straight from Wood’s own life. Notice how he doesn’t pick a studio as his backdrop. Instead, he plants himself in the landscape he knows and loves. Throughout his artworks, you’ll find this subtle yet powerful affection towards his Midwest roots. It’s a love letter to his home, his art soaked in fond nostalgia for the world just outside his window.
Self-Portrait by Grant Wood, 1932, Figge Art Museum
Haying (1939)
“Haying” introduces us to harvest time in 1939. The canvas follows rolling hills teeming with orderly haystacks, symbolizing hard work. An almost-hidden young tree and two striking red barns break the sea of hay. One barn has a lantern-shaped cupola, a detail typical of Wood’s meticulous style. A rustic weathervane tops the other.
A lone ceramic jug rests in the foreground, signaling a moment’s rest amidst a busy harvest. All these are backdropped by a light blue sky, creating an idyllic rural tableau. Wood’s painting, filled with vibrant colors and thoughtful details, tells a story of rural American productivity captured beautifully on canvas.
Haying by Grant Wood, 1939, National Gallery of Art
Arbor Day (1932)
Completed in 1932, “Arbor Day” captures the peaceful essence of rural life. The scene unfurls a landscape dotted with farmhouses and barns. They are neatly tucked into rolling hills, as though playing hide-and-seek. Wood takes elements of the quiet American countryside and transforms them into visions of nursery-like innocence.
“Arbor Day” presents a familiar world, yet also dreamy. The depicted scene mirrors a child’s toy set — each object perfectly in its place, each property safe. It all seems as unblemished as an idealized childhood. Wood gives the viewer a peek into a time when life was simple and our surroundings were unthreatening. The landscape is a nostalgic nod to the times when security was not a privilege but a given. His painting becomes an escape into a safe haven — a world as serene, as it is secure, and inviting. Through “Arbor Day”, Wood assures us that art can be a soothing salve amidst the chaos of reality.
Arbor Day by Grant Wood, 1932, MFA Boston
New Road (1939)
“New Road” (1939) teems with vibrancy, capturing an idealized American countryside. The square canvas showcases rolling green fields partitioned by contrasting sand-colored roads. Wood’s use of light creates a warm, almost sunset like ambiance.
A road seems to tumble into a lush valley from a hill, dotted with wooden posts hosting a sign reading “SOLON 5 MI”. Fields are meticulously cross-hatched, rich in clay-orange strokes adding texture. A white farmhouse nestled amidst trees, a host of pom-pom shaped trees, a brick-red barn and a windmill present classic rural scenery.
Flecks of white throughout hint at farm animals and fence posts. The sky, a tapestry of short, soft strokes transitioning from tranquil blues to peach and pink hues, suggest a setting sun. Together, these elements fuse to create Wood’s quintessential representation of rural American life.
New Road by Grant Wood, 1939, National Gallery of Art
Карьера
Фотография Гранта Вуда, сделанная во время службы в армии.
Ближе к концу Великой войны Вуд присоединился к армии США, работая художником, создавая камуфляжные сцены, а также другие предметы искусства.
Дерево в 1941 году
С 1922 по 1935 год Вуд жил со своей матерью на чердаке каретного двора в Сидар-Рапидс , который он превратил в свою личную студию на «Аллее Тернеров, 5» (у студии не было адреса, пока Вуд не придумал его). В 1932 году Вуд помог основать Художественную колонию Стоун-Сити недалеко от своего родного города, чтобы помочь художникам пережить Великую депрессию . Он стал большим сторонником регионализма в искусстве, читая лекции по этой теме по всей стране. По мере того, как его классический американский имидж укреплялся, его богемные дни в Париже были вычеркнуты из его публичной персоны.
Вуд был женат на Саре Шерман Максон с 1935 по 1938 год. На семь лет старше Гранта, она родилась в Айове в 1884 году. Друзья считали брак ошибкой для Вуда.
Вуд преподавал живопись в Школе искусств Университета Айовы с 1934 по 1941 год. В течение этого времени он руководил проектами настенной росписи, наставником студентов, создавал множество собственных работ и стал ключевой частью культурного сообщества университета.
Считается, что он был скрытым гомосексуалистом , и что была попытка со стороны старшего коллеги, Лестера Лонгмана, уволить его как по моральным соображениям, так и за его отстаивание регионализма. Критик Джанет Маслин заявляет, что его друзья знали, что он «гомосексуалист и немного шутих в своем маскараде одетым в целом фермерским мальчиком». Администрация университета отвергла обвинения, и Вуд вернулся бы в качестве профессора, если бы не его растущие проблемы со здоровьем.
The Reception and Legacy of American Gothic
Submitted to the 1930 annual exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, the painting won a bronze medal and a $300 prize and was acquired by the institution for its collection. From there, the picture of the prize-winning painting ran in several newspapers across the country, making Wood instantly famous.
This was a major breakthrough for Grant Wood, who was previously an unknown 39-year-old aspiring artist, living in the attic of a funeral-home carriage house with his mother and sister.
However, the American Gothic sparked a backlash in the artist’s hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as locals were displeased about being portrayed as pinched, grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers. Wood insisted that as a loyal Iowan, he did not mean to paint a caricature, only show his appreciation.
As he explained, he aimed to create a positive statement about rural American values and provide an image of reassurance at a time of great hardship and disenchantment brought by the Great Depression. For the artist, man and woman in the painting represented survivors.
Grant Wood soon found a place in Regionalism, an American realist modern art movement that shunned urbanism and celebrated the rural settings. Becoming the spokesman for the movement, Wood often wore overalls, once remarking that he «got all his ideas for painting while milking a cow.»
Yet, while he did grow up on the farm, this was not a part of his adult life. It is suggested the role he was playing was supposed to show his perceived manliness and hide his closeted homosexuality.
Some art critics, such as Gertrude Stein and Christopher Morley, subsequently saw the American Gothic painting as a satire of rural small-town life, while others saw it as a depiction of steadfast American pioneer spirit. Wood himself gave a somewhat confusing statement:
Indeed, the ambiguity is so pervasive through this painting. It became the symbol of America because people could see anything they wanted in it. Contested as the American nation is, it has as many reading as the Americans have ideas about what their country is.
Left: Grant Wood — Boy Milking Cow, 1932. Oil on canvas, cut out and mounted on fiberboard, 71 1⁄4 x 63 1⁄4 in. (181 x 160.7 cm) framed. Coe College, Permanent Art Collection, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; gift of the Eugene C. Eppley Foundation. Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photograph by Mark Tade, 2005 / Right: Grant Wood — Spring in Town, 1941. Oil on wood, 26 x 24 1⁄2 in. (66 x 62.2 cm). Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana 1941.30. Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Early Life and Career
Born in rural Iowa, Grant Wood spent much of his childhood on a farm. His father died suddenly in 1901 when Grant was ten years old. Following the death, his mother moved their family to the small nearby city of Cedar Rapids. Along with his older brother, Grant Wood took odd jobs to help provide financial support for their family.
Wood showed an interest in drawing and painting while attending Cedar Rapids’ public schools. He submitted his work to a national competition in 1905 and won third place. The success cemented his determination to be a professional artist.
Grant Wood’s boyhood home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Bill Whittaker / Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 3.0
While in high school, Grant Wood began designing stage sets with fellow artist Marvin Cone and began volunteering at the Cedar Rapids Art Association, which later became the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Following high school graduation, Wood took a summer course at the Minneapolis School of Design and Handicraft in Minnesota. He also took art classes at the University of Iowa.
In 1913, Grant Wood moved to Chicago, making jewelry to support himself and his night classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the failure of his jewelry business, Wood returned to Cedar Rapids in 1916 and worked as a home builder and decorator to support his mother and his youngest sister, Nan.
Important Artworks
Now that we have looked at all the facts about Grant Wood, we can explore some of his artworks. There is a full article about his works already, but you can check them out for yourself by examining our list and putting the painting titles in Google. In the table below, you will find a few of the most well-known Grant Wood artworks.
| Artwork Name | Date | Medium | Location |
| American Gothic | 1930 | Oil on beaverboard | Art Institute of Chicago |
| Midnight Ride of Paul Revere | 1931 | Oil on composition board | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
| Victorian Survival | 1931 | Oil on composition board | Carnegie-Stout Public Library, Dubuque, Iowa |
| Dinner for Threshers | 1934 | Oil on hardboard | Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco |
| Parson Weem’s Fable | 1939 | Oil on canvas | Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas |
Мальчик с фермы
Грант Вуд родился на ферме своих родителей за пределами Анамозы, штат Айова, 13 февраля 1891 года. Идиллические пейзажи произвели неизгладимое впечатление на Вуда и глубоко повлияют на его более поздние мысли и творчество, хотя он провел большую часть своей жизни после 10 лет в более городских условиях Сидар-Рапидс, куда переехал с матерю и младшей сестрой Нан после смерти отца.
Вуд проявил интерес к искусству, когда еще учился в гимназии . Он продолжал развивать свои таланты и в старшей школе, где разрабатывал декорации для пьес и иллюстрированных студенческих публикаций, а после окончания в 1910 году посещал школу дизайна и ремесел Миннеаполиса. В течение следующих нескольких лет Вуд расширил свой творческий интерес, научившись работать с металлами и украшениями, а также строить мебель. Когда он переехал в Чикаго в 1913 году, он использовал эти навыки, чтобы зарабатывать на жизнь.
Трудные Времена
Несмотря на эти успехи, Вуд вступал в самый трудный период в своей жизни. В 1935 году женился на женщине по имени Сара Макссон, с которой он будет поддерживать сложные отношения в течение следующих нескольких лет отчасти из-за его скрытого гомосексуализма. Вуд и Макссон в конечном счете развелись в 1939 году, в то время, когда он также был не в ладах с налоговой за неуплату налогов.
Между тем, профессиональный мир Вуда тоже разваливался. С появлением абстрактных движений в американском искусстве регионализм Вуда утратил пополярность и поставил его в противоречие со многими факультетами в университете. Разочарованный, в 1940 году Вуд ушел в отпуск.
На протяжении этого тяжелого времени, Вуд продолжал работать. Такие картины, как «Смерть на Ридж-Роуд» (1935 г.), «Уимс Парсон’ басни» (1939 г.) и «Кукурузное поле в штате Айова» (1941 г.) демонстрируют его приверженность американскому движению в искусстве, за создание которого он отвечал в первую очередь. Он умер от рака 12 февраля 1942 года, в возрасте 50 лет, и был похоронен на участке своей семьи в Анамосе.
January (1940)
“January” (1940) is one of Wood’s last masterpieces. He tragically died from liver cancer soon after. The painting vividly encaptures nostalgic themes. Wood himself tied this artwork deeply to his early farm life in Iowa. The painting displays an interesting tranquility. Wood framed it as “a land of plenty” that remains serene under the cold. It doesn’t suffer but rests. In the quiet and dormant scene, a glimpse of life appears. Tiny rabbit tracks hint at a whisper of activity amidst the chill.
Wood’s artistry shines through his clever use of abstract design. Take a close look at the pattern of the snow-laden corn shocks. They artistically plunge into the painting’s depth. The geometric alignment displays a rhythmic beauty. It’s as if they stretch infinitely into the far distance.
Furthermore, the painting’s motif demonstrates his penchant for agricultural imagery, evoking feelings of warmth, comfort, and an underlying sadness. This piece beautifully signifies an end of an era and a journey into the unknown.
January by Grant Wood, 1940, The Cleveland Museum of Art
A Mysterious Work with Ambiguous Meaning
The American Gothic painting depicts a woman dressed in colonial print apron evoking 19th-century Americana and a man holding a pitchfork.
For the highly detailed and polished style and the rigid frontality of the two figures, it is believed Wood was influenced by Flemish Renaissance art, which he studied during his earlier travels to Europe. Influenced by European traditions, the artist has turned these lessons towards the American landscape.
He painted a somewhat archaic image, providing a sense of hardworking practical people and a conservative aspect of America. However, despite confronting us directly, the characters of American Gothic remain difficult to read.
Over the years, every element of the painting has been mined for meaning, although the artist remained silent on these debates. Ambiguous and multilayered, the American Gothic is imbued with various psychoanalytical, political and historical meanings.
The farmer painting is both real and symbolic. Placing a man and woman in front of the house, it is believed that Wood refers to the association Americans have with their homes as extensions of themselves, especially in rural America. The plants on the porch of the house, mother-in-law’s tongue and geraniums, are the same plants in his 1929 portrait of his mother Woman with Plants.
While geraniums are sometimes used to signify melancholy or ineptitude, mother-in-law’s tongue might signify hardness and strength.
There is also a certain geometry of lines, circles and zigzags in the painting. The continuity of the patterns, most notably in the curtains in the upstairs windows and on the woman’s apron, seems to tie the composition together. It also seems as if the main compositional elements of the American Gothic are based upon the upstairs arched window.
Ранние годы
Дом отрочества Гранта Вуда, Сидар-Рапидс, штат Айова , внесен в список самых находящихся под угрозой исчезновения исторических мест в Айове.
Вуд родился в сельской местности Айовы , в 4 милях (6 км) к востоку от Анамосы , в 1891 году, в семье Хэтти ДеЭтт Уивер Вуд и Фрэнсиса Мэривилл Вуд. Его мать переехала с семьей в Сидар-Рапидс после того, как его отец умер в 1901 году. Вскоре после этого Вуд стал подмастерьем в местном магазине по металлу. После окончания средней школы Вашингтона Вуд поступила в Гильдию ремесленников , художественную школу, полностью управляемую женщинами в Миннеаполисе в 1910 году (ныне видный коллектив художников в городе). Говорят, что позже он вернулся в гильдию, чтобы рисовать готику по-американски . Год спустя Вуд вернулся в Айову, где преподавал в сельской однокомнатной школе. В 1913 году он поступил в Школу Художественного института Чикаго и выполнил некоторые работы в качестве серебряных дел мастера .
С 1922 по 1928 год Вуд совершил четыре поездки в Европу, где изучал многие стили живописи, особенно импрессионизм и постимпрессионизм . Тем не менее, именно работы фламандского художника 15-го века Яна ван Эйка повлияли на него, чтобы он осознал ясность этой техники и включил ее в свои новые работы.
Grant Wood Retrospective at the Whitney
Despite the iconic status of the American Gothic, Wood’s career consists of far more than one single painting.
The upcoming Whitney exhibition will reveal a complex, sophisticated artist whose image as a farmer-painter was as mythical as the stories he depicted in his art. Gathering some 130 artworks, the presentation will probably be the biggest show of the artist’s work ever.
Conceived as an interrogation of stereotypes, values, and reputations, the exhibition is “a quest to understand how a remarkable artist created mythic images, images that are not as unequivocal or as unambiguous as some might think or, yet, as some might wish…”, as Adam D. Weinberg, Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, writes in his introduction to the exhibition catalog. As he explains, despite their surface simplicity and clarity, the majority of Wood’s paintings are not at all straightforward, often revealing a collision of amplified meanings.
The exhibition Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables will be on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art from March 2nd until June 10th, 2018. Curated by Whitney curator Barbara Haskell, with senior curatorial assistant Sarah Humpherville, it will be on view in the Whitney’s fifth-floor Neil Bluhm Family Galleries.
The show will be accompanied by a catalog that includes a major reconsideration of Wood by Barbara Haskell, an extensive narrative chronology, and a range of scholarly essays.
Editors’ Tip: Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables
This comprehensive study of Grant Wood is packed with extensive new scholarship and provides fresh insight into the career of one of the key figures of 20th-century American art. Exploring Wood’s oeuvre from a variety of perspectives, this book presents the artist’s work in all of its subtle complexity. Generously illustrated, the book includes several works published here for the first time, as well as new photography of other paintings. The essays in the volume contextualize Wood’s work within a much larger art-historical framework than has previously been considered. Through a careful reconsideration of Wood’s career, creative process, technique, iconography, and critical reception, this book reveals for the first time the deep significance and cosmopolitan breadth of Wood’s artistic vision.
Featured image: Grant Wood — American Gothic, 1930 (detail). All the images courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
References:
Cumming, L. (2017) American Gothic: a state visit to Britain for the first couple. The Guardian
Anonymous. Grant Wood — American Gothic. Art Institute of Chicago
Anonymous. About American Gothic. American Gothic House
Fineman. M. (2005) The Most Famous Farm Couple in the World. The Slate
Puchko, K. (2015) 15 Things You Might Not Know About American Gothic. Mental Floss
Spring in Town (1941)
“Spring in Town” is like a time capsule of small-town America in 1941. It transports you straight to a typical backyard scene. Just imagine local gardeners, bending to sow potatoes and onions as the March sun lavishes warmth over their efforts.
Wood found deep inspiration in the works of 16th-century artists such as Jan Van Eyck. Their hard-edged, detailed realism influenced his style. Look closely and you’ll notice this in his distinctive undulated forms. In this perfected vision of the American heartland, industrious neighbors are depicted as they plant gardens, mow the lawn, fix roofs, and clean their homes.
But “Spring in Town” is not just a past-paced idyllic portrait. See those industrial smokestacks distantly sketched? They symbolize the dawning of inevitable change on the agrarian landscape. It’s a touch of nostalgia, a longing for a simpler time.
A piece of trivia: this artwork shares the honor of being one of Wood’s final two pieces. He was painting this side-by-side with “Spring in the Country” in 1941, marking a remarkable ending to his artistic journey.
Spring in Town by Grant Wood, 1941, The Sheldon Swope Art Museum
Источники
- Кукуруза, Ванда М. Грант Вуд: видение регионализма. Нью-Хейвен: Миннеаполисский институт искусств и издательство Йельского университета, 1983.
- Кроу, Дэвид. «Иллюстрация как интерпретация:» Новый курс «Гранта Вуда: прочтение книги Синклера Льюиса Главная улица.» В Синклеру Льюису 100 лет: доклады, представленные на конференции, посвященной столетию, отредактированный Майклом Коннотоном, 95–111. Сент-Клауд, Миннесота: Государственный университет Сент-Клауда, 1985.
- Ченстоховский, Джозеф С. Джон Стюарт Карри и Грант Вуд: Портрет сельской Америки. Колумбия: Университет Миссури Пресс и Художественная ассоциация Сидар-Рапидс, 1981.
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Plaid Sweater (1931)
“Plaid Sweater” (1931) captures the youthful innocence of a young boy standing in a scenic and peaceful landscape. His fashion is a stand-out feature of the painting. He is snugly fitted into a bright red argyle sweater, tucked neatly into his pants. The vibrant red hue of his sweater pops against the calming fall backdrop, making him the center of attention.
In his hands are symbols of an all-American pastime: football. The way he holds a football and a helmet in his hands showcases a sense of childlike eagerness and enthusiasm for the game. Thus indicating Wood’s objective to portray wholesome, everyday American life.
The landscape setting adds a layer of depth to it. The holistic nature of this piece is an example of Wood’s genius. His usage of everyday items and settings to convey the mundane yet charming aspects of American life is phenomenal. “Plaid Sweater” is a harmonious blend of color, still life, and everyday Americana, all masterfully woven into one captivating artwork.
Plaid Sweater by Grant Wood, 1931, Stanley Museum of Art
Young Corn (1931)
“Young Corn” is a 1931 Wood creation that paints a charming landscape, complete with a small hill speckled with fields to the left. Trees lined up to the right add a splash of whimsy, resembling sketches right out of a children’s book.
Another genius touch is Wood’s play with angles and perspective. The nearest field falls away down the slope, creating illusions of depth. A meandering path in the foreground passes a cozy home, probably a haven for the rural workers. In the low ground between hills, you can spot figures toiling away, their daily chores punctuating the drowsy tranquility. The mood is uplifting, thanks to the sun bathing the scene in bright light, only sparing the base of some trees.
The steep hills might raise eyebrows — are they too angled for corn? But that’s precisely Wood’s goal: manipulating reality to bid a more engaging, lively, and interesting visual treat! “Young Corn” beautifully blends rural charm and artistic imagination.
Young Corn by Grant Wood, 1931, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
Victorian Survival (1931)
Grant Wood’s “Victorian Survival” is an intriguing passageway between the past and the future. Painted in 1931, this artwork adds a twist to the painter’s familiar world, wrestling with technological transformation.
The painting showcases Wood’s great aunt, Matilda Peet. Dressed in black, she is an emblem of solemnity and tradition. Her rigid stature and stern garb make her a fortress against change. Then there’s the telephone. It may look old-fashioned to us, yet it is a surprising dash of modernity intruding on Matilda’s rigid world. Placed strategically, it nudges her off-center in the painting. It’s only a matter of time before it rings, stirring the calm waters of Matilda’s constant universe.
Through “Victorian Survival”, Wood cleverly stages a meeting of two worlds — one safe in its age-old ways, the other full of promise yet terrifying in its novelty. This striking blend signifies a profound dialogue between the traditional and the modern.
Victorian Survival by Grant Wood, 1931, Dubuque Museum of Art
The Birthplace of Herbert Hoover (1931)
“The Birthplace of Herbert Hoover” is a 1931 work by Grant Wood. In this piece, the layout might feel oddly perfect — that’s Wood’s precision and love for harmony at play! The rural tranquility in this picture was tailored for then-President Hoover. A group of Iowa businessmen commissioned it, intending to present it to Hoover.
Smack in the center, behind the two-story house, is a white cabin. That’s Hoover’s true birthplace. Known for flaunting his humble roots during his presidential campaigns, this detail was aimed at pulling Hoover’s heartstrings.
But the plot thickens!
Hoover ultimately rejected the painting. Why? He felt the sizable house overshadowed his birth cabin. Yet like any good story, this one’s got a happy ending. Wood didn’t let the rejection dampen his spirits. He sold the painting through a dealer.
The Birthplace of Herbert Hoover by Grant Wood, 1931, Minneapolis Institute of Art