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American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood from 1930. Portraying a pitchfork-holding farmer and a younger woman (imagined to be his wife) in front of a house of Carpenter Gothic style, it is one of the most familiar images in 20th century American art. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... American Gothic may refer to: American Gothic, a 1930 painting by Grant Wood American Gothic, a 1942 photograph by Gordon Parks American Gothic (album), a 1972 album by David Ackles American Gothic (comics), a 2005 Weird West story from 2000 AD American Gothic (film), a 1988 film American Gothic (TV... American Gothic, 1930 This work is copyrighted. ... American Gothic (1930) in the Art Institute of Chicago Stained glass window in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 2004 Iowa state quarter Grant Wood, born Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942) was an American painter, born in Anamosa, Iowa. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mona Lisa, Oil on wood panel painting by Leonardo da Vinci. ... The Art Institute of Chicago is a fine art museum located in Chicago, Illinois. ... For other uses , see Painting (disambiguation). ... American Gothic (1930) in the Art Institute of Chicago Stained glass window in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 2004 Iowa state quarter Grant Wood, born Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942) was an American painter, born in Anamosa, Iowa. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Pitchfork (disambiguation). ... Now is the time for all good men to the aid of their country. ... Americas first well-known school of painting—the Hudson River School—appeared in 1820. ...

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.

Creation

In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in Carpenter Gothic architecture in Eldon, Iowa. 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. The man is modeled on Wood's dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 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. Now is the time for all good men to the aid of their country. ... Eldon is a city located in Wapello County, Iowa. ... For other uses, see Americana (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Location in the State of Iowa Coordinates: , Country State County Linn Incorporated 1849 Government  - Mayor Kay Halloran Area  - City 166. ...

Reception

The Carpenter Gothic style house in Eldon, Iowa depicted in American Gothic.

Wood entered the painting in a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago. 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. However, Wood received a backlash when the image finally appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. 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] Now is the time for all good men to the aid of their country. ... Eldon is a city located in Wapello County, Iowa. ... The Art Institute of Chicago is a fine art museum located in Chicago, Illinois. ... This article is about the state. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Kansas City satellite map The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen county metropolitan area is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri straddling the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. ... The Indianapolis skyline Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana. ... The Gazette is a daily newspaper published in the American city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. ...

American Gothic (1942) by Gordon Parks was the first prominent parody of the painting.

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. 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.^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3272x4628, 2948 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Wikipedia:Featured pictures Gordon Parks User:Davepape User talk:Davepape Wikipedia:Featured pictures candidates/October-2006 Wikipedia:Featured... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3272x4628, 2948 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Wikipedia:Featured pictures Gordon Parks User:Davepape User talk:Davepape Wikipedia:Featured pictures candidates/October-2006 Wikipedia:Featured... Gordon Parks at Civil Rights March on Washington, 1963. ... Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American writer who became a catalyst in the development of modern art and literature. ... Christopher Morley (5 May 1890–28 March 1957) was an American journalist, novelist, and poet. ... Sherwood Anderson in 1933. ... Winesburg, Ohio is a 1919 short story cycle by the American author Sherwood Anderson. ... Sinclair Lewis Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 — January 10, 1951) was an American novelist and playwright. ... Main Street book cover The satirical novel Main Street by Sinclair Lewis was published in 1920. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ...

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. 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] For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Detail of Currys controversial mural in Kansas Statehouse, illustrating John Brown and the clash of forces in Bleeding Kansas John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 - August 29, 1946) was an American painter noted for his pictures depicting life in his home state, Kansas. ... Thomas Hart Benton, painter Thomas Hart Benton, or Tom Benton (April 15, 1889 - January 19, 1975) was an American muralist of the Regionalist school. ... Gordon Parks at Civil Rights March on Washington, 1963. ... ...

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.^[1] It is thus one of the most reproduced — and parodied — images ever. 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. Out Magazine in March 1994 Notable examples of references to the famous painting American Gothic in popular culture. ... “Da Vinci” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Mona Lisa (disambiguation). ... The Scream. ... For other uses, see Scream. ... In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... For the computer diagnostic tool, see POST card. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A cartoon is any of several forms of art, with varied meanings that evolved from one to another. ... Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...

References

• Steven Biel (2005). American Gothic: A Life of America's Most Famous Painting. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-05912-X. 

Notes

Slate is an online news and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley and owned by Microsoft (as part of MSN). ... is the 159th day of the year (160th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• About the painting, on the Art Institute's site
• Slate article about American Gothic
• American Gothic: A Life of America's Most Famous Painting
• November 18, 2002, National Public Radio “Morning Edition” report about “American Gothic” by Melissa Gray that includes an interview with Art Institute of Chicago curator Daniel Schulman.
• June 6, 1991, National Public Radio “Morning Edition” report on Iowa's celebration of the centennial of Grant Wood's birth by Robin Feinsmith. Several portions of the report focus on “American Gothic”.
• February 13,1976, National Public Radio “All Things Considered” Cary Frumpkin interview with James Dennis, author of Grant Wood: A Study in American Art and Culture. The interview contains a discussion about "American Gothic".
• Clip of a 1960's cornflake commercial that parodies American Gothic
• American Gothic House Center site