Grant Wood was an important American painter who hailed from the state of Iowa and is best known for his rendering of the rural Midwest in his works. In 1920, Grant Wood set out on a trip to Europe, telling his sister, “the art critics and dealers want no part of American art. They think this country is too new for any culture and too crude and undeveloped to produce any artists. You have to be a Frenchman, take a French name, and paint like a Frenchman to gain recognition.” Grant would prove them wrong ten years later. His most famous painting, “American Gothic†(1930), caused a sensation. The work, depicting a stern-faced farm couple in front of a rural backdrop with the man holding a pitchfork, is one of the most recognized works of art by any American painter. American Gothic has reached an iconic level of status and is one of the most enduring images of American art – it’s also one of the most parodied, reproduced and viewed. The painting hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago today.
