Grant Wood (1891–1942) was born on a farm near Anamosa, Iowa. His interest in art emerged early but Wood assumed that he’d grow up to be a farmer like his dad. When Wood was 10, his father died and his mother sold the farm. She moved the family to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Wood found that his artistic abilities helped him fit in at school. He drew pictures for the school newspaper and painted scenery for school plays. After graduating from high school, Wood took art classes at the University of Iowa and the Chicago Institute of Art. During the 1920s, he made several trips to Europe to study art. In Paris, he experimented with all kinds of artistic styles including Impressionism. But seeing the works of the Flemish masters—especially those of Jan van Eyck—inspired him to change the way he painted. Wood decided to incorporate the realism of the Northern Renaissance into his own work. His brushwork became tighter and his palette became darker.
When Wood returned to the United States in the late 1920s, he decided to focus on American subject matter in his paintings. In his 1935 pamphlet entitled “Revolt Against the City,” Wood claimed that American artists no longer needed to look to Paris or the big cities for inspiration—it was time to create art focused on America. Along with the American artists Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry, Wood developed an artistic style called Regionalism. These artists created highly realistic scenes, mostly of rural life in the Midwest.
American Gothic is one of the best-known images in all of Western art. The two figures are often assumed to be a married couple. But they were actually Wood’s 30-year-old sister, Nan, and his 62-year-old dentist B.H. McKeeby. Wood asked the pair to pose in front of a farmhouse as father and daughter. The artist chose the house (which still exists as a tourist attraction in Eldon, Iowa) because he found the Gothic-style window intriguing. The farmer wears faded overalls, a white shirt, and what is probably his best Sunday suit coat. The seams in the overalls repeat the shape of the pitchfork. The pattern in the woman’s apron is similar to that of the curtain in the Gothic window, and both figures’ elongated faces echo the window’s shape. This visually links the man and woman to the house.
This painting was created in 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression. The figures’ dark clothing and grim facial expressions may reflect the fact that many Americans were then losing their homes and farms. American Gothic was controversial when it was first exhibited: Some critics wondered whether Wood was poking fun at Midwestern farmers or paying them a sincere tribute.