American Gothic
Grant Wood’s 1930 painting American Gothic is one of the most recognizable works in American art. Today, many people see the painting and read it as a harsh satire of Middle America. Yet although it has long been interpreted that way, Wood’s intention was not simply to mock. On the contrary, as his own words suggest, he was trying to paint people he knew with all their flaws, but with respect.
The origin of the painting is also quite interesting. While traveling in Iowa, Wood came across a nineteenth century house built in a style known as Carpenter Gothic. The house impressed him so much that he imagined a farmer standing in front of it with a woman beside him. He first made a quick sketch, then took several photographs. Later, when completing the composition in his studio, he used his sister as the model for the woman and his dentist as the model for the man.
The clothing of the two figures is especially striking. Both wear serious, plain outfits that evoke the Victorian period. Their almost stone-like facial expressions recall the long poses of early photography. This stillness gives the painting both a severity and a strange tension. The viewer does not see an obvious event in the image, but does feel a mood.
One of the strongest aspects of the composition is its visual repetition and formal relationships. The pronged tips of the farmer’s pitchfork echo the Gothic window shape and the vertical lines of the house. The rounded lower part of the pitchfork repeats the oval forms of the figures’ faces. For that reason, the painting is powerful not only because of what it depicts, but also because of the formal structure it builds. Some commentators interpret the pitchfork as a symbol of masculinity, hardness, even evil, and of farming itself. The closed shutters and shut windows of the house can also be read as details that reinforce the figures’ distant and defensive attitude.
Grant Wood finished the painting at the last moment in order to submit it to a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Unexpectedly, the work won a bronze medal and a 300 dollar prize. This success helped the painting become widely known in a short time. Today, American Gothic is remembered as one of the best-known works in the Art Institute of Chicago collection.
Grant Wood’s life is also important for understanding this painting. Born in Iowa in 1891, the artist spent his youth doing farm work and painted on his own whenever he could. He later studied at the University of Iowa and the Art Institute of Chicago. After World War I, he went to Paris and then to Germany. But the modern art scene in Europe did not give him the direction he was looking for. In the end, he returned to Iowa and turned toward portraying the world he knew best, the American Midwest, through a native visual language. His bright, simple, restrained, and realist style was the result of that return.
What Wood said about American Gothic explains very clearly why the painting should not be read only as satire. In his view, these were people he had known all his life. They had flaws, and he did not hide those flaws. But they were still good and solid people. For that reason, American Gothic is not simply a painting of a strange couple. It is also a portrait of an era, of seriousness, and of people who may look provincial but are deeply strong.