How are you?
Currently, I am
introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the
title “Interesting
Art Stories”.
The 47th story is “American Gothic” by Grant Wood.
“American Gothic” is one of the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, painted by Grant Wood in 1930.
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| Selfportrait, Grant Wood |
It depicts a farmer standing beside his daughter in front
of the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, and the painting was named after
the house's architectural style.
In August 1930, a young
local painter John Sharp took Wood for a drive around Eldon, Iowa. Looking for
inspiration for the next painting at the time, Wood discovered the Dibble
House, a small white house built in Gothic architectural style, and he drew the
house on an envelope he had with him.
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| The Dibble House |
After obtaining the owner's
permission, he decided to draw the house with people who, he thought, would be
perfect for the house. Therefore, he painted this picture with his dentist, Dr.
Byron McKeeby as the farmer and his sister, Nan Wood Graham, as the farmer’s
daughter.
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| Nan Wood Graham and Dr. Byron McKeeby, the models for American Gothic |
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| Portrait of Nan, Grant Wood |
The plants on the porch of
the house are mother-in-law's tongue and beefsteak begonia, which also appeared
in Wood's 1929 portrait of his mother, "Woman with Plants."
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| Woman with Plants, Grant Wood |
It was exhibited for the
first time outside the United States at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris and
the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2016 to 2017.
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| Musée de l'Orangerie |
Shortly after the painting
was made, as the Great Depression was deepened, the painting came to be seen as
a portrayal of the firm American pioneer spirit.
The first famous parody of
this painting as depicting the Great Depression-era was a 1942 photo of
cleaning woman Ella Watson by Gordon Parks, shot in Washington, D.C.
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| American Gothic, Washington, D.C., Gordon Parks |
In addition, the paintings
was frequently parodied in various fields of American popular culture,
including Broadway musicals such as "The Music Man", movies such as
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and television shows such as “Green
Acres”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, and the “SpongeBob SquarePants” episode
"FarmerBob.”
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| The Music Man |
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| The Rocky Horror Picture Show |
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| Green Acres |
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| The Dick Van Dyke Show |
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| SpongeBob SquarePants |
Thank you.
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