American Gothic
À propos du tableau
American Gothic est un tableau de Grant Wood appartenant à la Friends of American Art Collection de l'Art Institute of Chicago
Wood a été inspiré par la maison Dibble, une construction de style gothique charpentier dont les détails ont attiré son regard, notamment la présence d'une fenêtre supérieure aux trois arcs en ogive, semblable à celles des églises gothiques. Il veut la peindre avec « le genre de personnes qu'[il] imaginait devoir vivre dans cette maison. »
Selon le musée
In American Gothic, Grant Wood directly evoked images of an earlier generation by featuring a farmer and his daughter posed stiffly and dressed as if they were, as the artist put it, “tintypes from my old family album.” They stand outside of their home, built in an 1880s style known as Carpenter Gothic. Wood had seen a similar farmhouse during a visit to Eldon, Iowa.
When it was exhibited at the Art Institute in 1930, the painting became an instant sensation, its ambiguity prompting viewers to speculate about the figures and their story. Many understood the work to be a satirical comment on midwesterners out of step with a modernizing world. Yet Wood intended it to convey a positive image of rural American values, offering a vision of reassurance at the beginning of the Great Depression.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Notice
- Numéro d’inventaire
- 1930.934
Pendant ce temps, chez Grant Wood
La vie entière1922–1928
Four trips to Europe: the Impressionists and Van Eyck
Between 1922 and 1928 Wood made four trips to Europe, studying many styles of painting, especially Impressionism and Post-Impressionism; it was the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck who influenced him most, giving him the clarity of technique that he brought into his new work.
1924–1935
“5 Turner Alley”: a studio in a carriage-house hayloft
From 1924 to 1935 Wood lived with his mother in the hayloft of a carriage house in Cedar Rapids that he had converted into his personal studio; it had no address until Wood made one up: “5 Turner Alley”.
1928
Munich: stained-glass windows for the Veterans Memorial
In 1928 Wood travelled to Munich to oversee the making of the stained-glass windows he had designed for the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids.
1930
“American Gothic” in Chicago: a $300 prize
The painting was first exhibited in 1930 at the Art Institute of Chicago, where it still hangs; it won a $300 prize and made news stories nationwide, bringing Wood immediate recognition.
1930s
Helps Curry and Benton return to the Midwest
John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton, who with Wood are the artists most associated with Regionalism, returned to the Midwest thanks to his encouragement; he helped them find teaching positions at colleges, Curry in Wisconsin and Benton in Missouri.
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