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What is the picture of the couple with the pitchfork?
American Gothic is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, along with “the kind of people [he] fancied should live in that house”.
What is the meaning behind the American Gothic painting?
American Gothic was first displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930 and is still found there today. When it was first displayed, many critics took it to be a commentary on the repression and austerity of rural life in America. The painting was inspired by a house that Wood saw in southern Iowa.
What is the message of American Gothic?
Wood insisted that as a loyal Iowan, he did not mean to paint a caricature, only show his appreciation. As he explained, he aimed to create a positive statement about rural American values and provide an image of reassurance at a time of great hardship and disenchantment brought by the Great Depression.
What is the painting of an old man and woman with a pitchfork?
“American Gothic” — the famed 1930 portrait featuring a stern, skinny middle-aged woman and a pitchfork-wielding older gentleman — is one of the most famous paintings in the world. But the artist behind it, an Iowa farm boy named Grant Wood, has remained in its shadows.
Is American Gothic A husband and wife?
American Gothic does not depict husband and wife. A popular caption for the painting in newspapers was An Iowa Farmer and His Wife, but that was not how the painting’s female model saw it.
Is the scream Gothic?
Even if we do not know its title, American Gothic is by now as proverbial as the Mona Lisa, The Starry Night and The Scream, a point not lost on parodists who have Photoshopped Van Gogh’s stars into the Iowan skies above that pointed roof, introduced Leonardo’s Lisa into the family romance and even married Grant Wood …
Who is the couple in American Gothic?
Who were these two farm figures — and what was their relationship? Many people assume that they were husband and wife. While Wood called the twosome father and daughter, the pair were modeled after Wood’s 32-year-old sister, Nan, and his dentist, 62-year-old Byron McKeeby.
Who is the woman in American Gothic?
When Grant Wood posed his sister, Nan, as the female half of American Gothic (his dentist did the honors as the fellow with the pitchfork), they could not have foreseen how deeply her likeness would resonate.
How much is American Gothic worth?
DES MOINES (AP) — A Grant Wood painting that sold for $6.96 million at a Sotheby’s auction may be a record for the artist who was immortalized with “American Gothic.”
Is the American Gothic house still standing?
Inspired, Wood quickly sketched the house, and returned home to Cedar Rapids to paint American Gothic. The house still stands to this day, and its exterior is viewed by thousands of people each year. American Gothic was purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago in late 1930, where it still resides to this day.