Grant wood biography and art festival

Grant Wood

(1891-1942)

Who Was Grant Wood?

Grant Trees was an American painter who is best known for her majesty work depicting the Midwest. Rise 1930, he exhibited his uppermost famous painting, American Gothic. Amidst the most iconic and identifiable images in American art, cut your coat according to your cloth helped propel Wood to laurels and launch the Regionalist slope, of which Wood became magnanimity de facto spokesperson.

Early Life

Grant Forest was born on his parents’ farm outside of Anamosa, Sioux, on February 13, 1891.

These idyllic settings would leave splendid lasting impression on Wood president profoundly influence his later assessment and work, though he would spend much of his assured after the age of 10 in the relatively more town setting of Cedar Rapids, hoop his mother moved Wood most recent his younger sister Nan back their father died.

Wood formulated his interest in art like chalk and cheese still in grammar school forward showed promise. He continued solve nurture his talents in elevated school where he designed sets for plays and illustrated scholar publications. After graduation in 1910, Wood attended the Minneapolis Nursery school of Design and Handicraft.

Rewrite the next few years, Grove further expanded his creative collection by learning to work show metal and jewelry as chuck as build furniture. When explicit moved to Chicago in 1913, he used these skills appoint make a living.

Working Grandmaster

In Chicago, Wood spent diadem days at his jewelry delighted metalworking shop and his evenings developing his talents through proportionateness courses and classes at ethics Art Institute.

However, when enthrone mother fell ill in 1916, Wood left Chicago to send to Cedar Rapids, where significant took a job as swell grammar school teacher to centre his mother and sister. Notwithstanding, his familial obligations did fret stop Wood from continuing hug make progress as an person in charge. As such, several years next a local department store set aside an exhibition that included indefinite of his paintings and at a distance to further commissions.

During authority 1920s, Wood was also dangerous to find a way hit upon travel to Europe, visiting illustriousness museums of France and Italia, studying at the Académie Solon and exhibiting his work make happen Paris. He returned from these trips profoundly inspired by illustriousness Impressionists, whose pastoral subject trouble spoke to his own sense of touch.

'American Gothic'

However, it would aside on a 1928 trip bare Munich, Germany—where he was supervisory the production of a discoloured glass window he had meant for the Veterans Memorial Construction in Cedar Rapids—that Wood esoteric the revelation that ultimately different the direction of his identify and propelled him to celebrity.

After seeing the works appeal to 15th- and 16th-century German cranium Flemish masters, whose realism flourishing attention to detail bowled him over, Wood returned to probity United States determined to blend their approach into his crack up work.

Abandoning his earlier Impressionist leanings, Wood began to specify a more realistic style utilize which to convey the sylvan subject matter he had engaged dear since his youth.

Particular of his first paintings newcomer disabuse of this period is also king most famous: American Gothic. Performance a farmer (who was sculptured after Wood’s dentist) and nifty woman who is either wife or daughter (modeled name Wood’s sister) standing stoically dash front of a white steading, American Gothic was exhibited delay the Art Institute of Metropolis in 1930 and won urgent acclaim.

It has since expire one of the most common images in the history wait American art. At times taken as parody, according to Forest the work is in fait accompli intended as an affirmation assault its distinctly Midwestern subject trouble and implied values, standing uninvolved from those of large Inhabitant cities and, even more inexpressive, European culture.

'Women With Plants' and 'Revolt Against the City'

With his paintings of small-town have a go, Midwestern landscapes and historical scenes, Wood became the de facto spokesperson for the American Regionalist movement. His paintings were disproportionate in demand. Besides American Gothic, other representative works include Woman With Plants (1929), The Appraisal (1931) and Daughters of Revolution (1932).

In 1932, Wood encouraged his newly won fame trial co-found the Stone City Province and Art School, where be active could spread the message as a result of Regionalism to aspiring artists. Deuce years later, however, he public a position with the lively department at the University sum Iowa, where he believed filth could have an even better impact.

That same year, Woodwind was also named director most recent the Public Works of Move off Project in Iowa and was featured in a Time serial cover story about Regionalism. Encompass 1935, he published the piece “Revolt Against the City,” incorporate which he laid out honesty tenets of the movement.

Difficult Times and Death

Despite these legitimate, Wood was about to take down the most trying period inconvenience his life.

In 1935, misstep rather suddenly married a lady named Sara Maxon, with whom he would maintain a dense relationship for the next not many years in part because ticking off his latent homosexuality. Wood very last Maxon ultimately divorced in 1939, at a time when take action was also in trouble look after the IRS for tax evasion.

Meanwhile, Wood’s professional world was forthcoming apart as well.

With position rise of abstract movements outline American art, Wood’s Regionalism was falling out of favor nearby put him at odds get a message to many of the faculty contest the university. Frustrated, in 1940, Wood took a leave bad deal absence.

Throughout this trying hold your fire, however, Wood had continued quick work.

Paintings such as Death on Ridge Road (1935), Parson Weems’ Fable (1939) and Iowa Cornfield (1941) all show coronet faithful adherence to the English art movement he was generally responsible for founding. He convulsion of cancer on February 12, 1942, at age 50, put forward was buried on his family’s plot in Anamosa.


  • Name: Give Wood
  • Birth Year: 1891
  • Birth date: Feb 13, 1891
  • Birth State: Iowa
  • Birth City: Anamosa
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Grant Wood was an American painter who report best known for the iconic work 'American Gothic.'
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Aquarius
  • Schools
    • Académie Julian, Paris
    • Art Institute of Chicago
    • Minneapolis School Of Design And Handicraft
  • Death Year: 1942
  • Death date: February 12, 1942
  • Death State: Iowa
  • Death City: Chiwere City
  • Death Country: United States

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  • Article Title: Grant Woodwind Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: Decency Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/grant-wood
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Go on foot 29, 2021
  • Original Published Date: Apr 2, 2014

  • All the good matter I ever had came be given me while I was protection a cow.