self-portrait, 1932. grant wood – as a child born on february 13, 1891 in iowa died in 1942 grew...
TRANSCRIPT
Self-portrait, 1932
Grant Wood – As a child
• Born on February 13, 1891 in Iowa
• Died in 1942
• Grew up on a farm in Anamosa, Iowa
• Went to school in one room school house
• Liked to draw but had no money for art supplies
- He used bits of charcoal and cardboard
• In 1916, he went to study at the Art Institute of Chicago
• During World War I (1914-1918), he painted camouflage on trucks and cannons
• In 1920, after the war, he went to France, Italy and Germany to study art, and supervised the making of stained glass windows
• Also studied “Gothic Art” which was very detailed and natural. People were shown with serious expressions and buildings had long lines and pointed arches
Grant Wood – As an adult
The Little Chapel Chancelade, 1926
• Discovered a new style of painting called American Regionalism – Tell a story with his art– Painted subjects he knew– Represent everyday, ordinary people and places– He was called the Midwestern Painter
• Worked as a high school art teacher, painted, designed stained glass windows
• Wanted to be identified as a farmer; wore overalls all the time
Back in America…
Young Corn, 1931
• Grant Wood designed and built the stained glass window at the Veterans Memorial Building for $9,000 in 1927 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa
• The window includes a 16 foot "Lady of Mourning" and life size soldiers from the Revolutionary War through WWI.
Veterans Memorial Window, 1929
Telling a Story• Grant painted his mother as a
strong and loving frontier woman.
• Farm landscape
• The decorative stitching on her dress, the cameo around her neck, the potted plant and other details that were important to her.
• People all over Iowa were proud of Grant’s portrait of his mother.
• It was one of the first paintings about the Midwest that seemed like it was done by someone who really knew and understood the people there.
Woman with Plants, 1929
Telling a Story
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1863
(…) A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a sparkStruck out by a steed flying
fearless and fleet;That was all! And yet, through
the gloom and the light,The fate of a nation was riding
that night;And the spark struck out by
that steed, in his flight,Kindled the land into flame
with its heat. (…)
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931
• "Arbor Day," a 1932 painting by native Grant Wood, was used to design the state quarter in the 50 State Quarters Program.
• The quarter shows a one-room schoolhouse with a teacher and students planting a tree and the words "Foundation in Education."
Telling a Story
American Gothic, 1930
American Gothic, 1930
• Grant liked the contrast of a European window on an American farmhouse.
• His family dentist and his own sister, Nan, were the models for the farmer and his daughter
• Won the third place prize at big show at the Art Institute of Chicago
• People all over America loved the newspaper pictures they saw of it.
• People felt Grant’s art was easier to understand than the new modern art
• Grant’s paintings along during a rough time in history known as the Great Depression.
Parody• A humorously
exaggerated imitation of an artist
Parody
Things to remember
• American Regionalist Painter– Painted to express the images in his mind– He liked to tell a story with his art
• Gothic Art refers to:– detailed and natural images– People generally have serious expressions– Buildings have long lines and pointed arches
• Parody means a humorously exaggerated imitation of an artist