When it's overly conventional and too well known, I'm typically not interested - but for whatever reason I decided to learn a bit more about the American Gothic painting, and it's artist, Grant Wood, so here below is a quick summary.

Born February 13, 1891, Grant DeVolson Wood grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is listed as having been born 'four miles east of Anamosa, Iowa' whatever the hell that could possibly mean. Here's a quick picture of the home he grew up in. I couldn't help but note the similarity to the house he later selected for his painting - in particular, the sharp peaks / gables.

Grant Woods original home 1

Grant studied art first in Minneapolis, and then the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His favorites styles included Impressionism and Post-impressionism and he made several trips to Europe in pursuit of the study of same. He had a keen appreciation for Flemish artist Jan van Eyck, and some of this influence can be seen in his work.

Portrait of a Man by Jan van Eyck, 1433, oil on panel 2

Grant ends up back in Iowa. It's 1930. In May of that year, he is given credit for his design, which is used in the stained glass window at the Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Not for nothing, but since he attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he's probably seriously looking for a subject to enter into the annual show coming in October.

Memorial Building stained glass window in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 3

It's August, 1930. John Sharp, an art student at the University of Iowa, frequented the Little Art Gallery in Cedar Rapids, as did Grant Wood, and Edward Rowan.

John Sharp 4

Edward Rowan selected the town of Eldon, Iowa, for an experiment in bringing an art exhibit to a rural area - it's thought that he chose this location because of his association with John Sharp, who lived in Eldon. Grant Wood was invited by Rowan to attend, and he did so.

As the summer studio preparations continued, Sharp's parents agreed to serve among the local hosts for the event named the "Eldon Art Center," scheduled for August 1930. Rowan's plans called for renting a local building, offering rotating exhibits, providing art classes to young people, then concluding with music and art appreciation courses. Funding for the ambitious undertaking came from the American Federation of the Arts, the sponsoring body for the Little Gallery. Grant Wood, eager to assist the Eldon efforts, offered his talents and requested a local tour of the community. The young man who volunteered, John Sharp, made his mark in American art history with that decision, for it was Sharp who showed Wood (on a car ride) the iconic house, located in Eldon, that became the background for the masterpiece, American Gothic (1930).5

Seated at our left is Grant Wood, crouched in center is Ed Rowan. 6

The story is related that John Sharp took Grant with him for a drive one afternoon, where Grant Wood spotted the Dibble House, with it's out-of-place Gothic window. It's not clear if Sharp knew about this house and had it in mind to show Grant, or if Grant simply noticed it during their drive - I mention this because the actual location of the house is a bit off the beaten path. As it turns out, the gothic window itself was a Sears catalog mail order, but the reasons as to why the Dibbles had this particular style of windows is going to remain a mystery forever. Built in 1881, Charles and Catherine Dibble were it's original owners, but lost the house [year unknown] when it was sold to pay for their over due taxes. It's possible that a large window which opened easily and swung out was needed in order to move certain large sized furniture into the space, which had a very narrow staircase. 7

The Dibble House 8

Here's where it seems to get a bit confusing - Wood has Sharp pull over so that he can make a sketch of the house, which he does, literally on the back of an envelope. Now, either this sketch is sufficient, and Wood never returns to the house for the rest of his life, OR, he returns the following day and makes a better job of it, producing an oil on paperboard [seems a bit more likely]. At some point it seems he requests the permission of the present owners of the house at that time, Gideon and Mary Jones, who have owned the house since 1917, to use it in his painting. At some point in time, he requests a photograph to complete his painting.9

His earliest biographer, Darrell Garwood, noted that Wood "thought it a form of borrowed pretentiousness, a structural absurdity, to put a Gothic-style window in such a flimsy frame house."

At the time, Wood classified it as one of the "cardboardy [sic] frame houses on Iowa farms" and considered it "very paintable." 10

Grant Wood now has his background, so now his idea is to add the sort of people that he feels would live in this type of house. As models for his painting, he selects his sister, Nan Wood Graham, and his Dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby. Nowhere can I find a reference which indicates any particular social roles Wood had planned for his models [eg, Husband and Wife].

Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Graham, and Dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby

Wood asked his sister to stand in as the aproned woman with the hair pulled tightly back, save for a loose curl. His dentist posed as the farmer in overalls and a blazer. Wood finished the painting in a few weeks and then submitted it to a contest at the Art Institute of Chicago.11

It was the 43rd annual exhibit of the Art Institute, running from October 30th through December 14, 1930, and the painting won third prize - the Norman Wait Harris bronze medal [Norman Wait Harris was an American Banker that had started this award in 1902 - he died in 1916].

American Gothic, 1930, Oil on Beaverboard, 74.3 cm × 62.4 cm (29¼ in × 24½ in) 12

Again, things get a bit confusing here - according to a wikipedia entry [with a reference that does not lend much support or credibility], American Gothic may have initially been panned - allegedly, the judge deemed the piece a 'comic valentine.'

Allegedly [again], a museum patron convinced the institute to award the painting with a third place Norman Wait Harris bronze medal and $300 prize. This same patron, also convinced the Art Institute to buy the painting - whether the part about the patron is true or not, the Institute did buy the painting and has ownership to this day. I was unable to source any information to substantiate the identity of such a patron, or if this account is even credible.

Lore holds that judges passed over the canvas but that Wood found it discarded in a heap and persuaded the judges to award him third place. 13

Wow - well that seems unlikely, however, it is interesting to note that there are multiple claims that Wood's painting was not all that well received - possibly because it was thought to be a work of satire.

It appears that the image and story of American Gothic began to be published in newspapers, beginning with the Chicago Evening Post, October 28th, 1930. In that paper, it gave the description of the figures in Wood's painting as a 'farmer and his wife.'

The news about the painting went on to be carried by a number of newspapers and magazines, including:

       The Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1930
       The Art Digest, November 1 1930
       The Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 1930
       The NY Times, November 9, 1930
   The Boston Herald, November 14, 1930

Many Iowans were exceedingly insulted by the idea that American Gothic was some form of commentary, or satirical portrayal of them, particularly the Iowan women. Additional articles were written attempting to spin away the bad press, and notables of the day praised Wood's work - including Gertrude Stein and Christopher Morley [who unfortunately also were under the same impression that the painting was meant to be a satire of rural life in Iowa].

Grant Wood's sister Nan, who posed for the painting, took it upon herself to write an article, in which she made it clear that the intent of the artist had not been to make fun of anyone, and that the woman portrayed in the piece was intended to be the daughter of the man with the pitchfork, NOT his wife. You can read that article, as well as any of the others noted above, at the Iowa Digital Library, Grant Woods collection. 14

Nan Wood Graham posing with American Gothic 15

Grant Wood died in 1942, and his legacy includes one of the most iconoclastic, and well known paintings in history. His American Gothic is essentially in the same distinction and honorary class as The Mona Lisa, The Scream, Guernica or Starry Night.

Green Acres parody of American Gothic, 1965

For decades this painting has been parodied, right up until the present, and I am sure it will continue to be, particularly in 2030.

I don't think it's ever wise to judge any artist based on a single example of his or her work, so let's end this post with a few other examples of Wood's work - unfortunately, I don't know the dimensions or mediums used - I assume that these are all oil.