FAME VI, Lesson 1
Grant Wood
(1891-1942)
September 2015
Costume for FAME Player &
Props
Costumes for the Kids
Prop:
1. The House Backdrop
Costumes:
-Boy: Black Jacket, Overalls, Glasses and
Pitchfork
-Girl: Dress, apron (choose someone with hair
ties back in low ponytail.)
Introduction
( You will need two volunteers: a boy and a girl who are willing to wear the costumes, and one or two
other volunteers to hold the backdrop.)
We are going to create a picture. What does an artist do when he or she is going to
create a picture? The artist decides where he or she is going to put things in the
painting, what colors to use, soft or bold lines. The artist also thinks about texture,
light, and shadow. These are the “Elements of Composition.”
(When the girl and the boy are ready, have them stand in front of the house backdrop.)
Look carefully at our subjects. Have you seen a painting like this before? (Let them think
about it) From where did you see it? (Show print: “American Gothic”) Do our volunteers
look a little like this paining? This painting is called “American Gothic” painted by an
American artist named Grant Wood in 1930. (The girl and boy can take off their costumes and
go back to their seats. Keep showing the print)
What was going on in our country in 1930? (The Great Depression.) Life was hard,
people lost their jobs and homes, and had to struggle just for the basics. It made
people feel better to look at Grant Wood’s paintings of beautiful farmlands and proud,
hardworking families.
Painting Description
Let’s look at this painting.
 Can you guess the occupation of these people? (farmers)
 Can you tell what the background of this painting is? (farmhouse)
 The painting shows a famer standing beside a woman.
 (Do we know who the woman is? (No)
 Her identity is a mystery: she could be his wife, his sister or even his daughter.
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Is the man and the woman lined up and facing the same direction? (No, the
man was in the front facing straight and the woman stood behind him looking at
the man.)
This behavior is showing us the traditional roles of men and women in the 1930’s
in America. Men were in charge and women would look to the man to make
decisions.
Is this so today? (No.)
The man’s pitchfork symbolizes hard labor and the flowers over the woman’s
shoulder suggest home and family.
Now let’s look at the background.
Grant found this house on a scouting trip for his next painting, in Iowa.
He saw a little farmhouse with an unusual window.
The arch-shaped window was based on a style of European architecture from
the Middle Ages called Gothic architecture.
The thought of Iowa imitating the large Gothic cathedrals of Europe was amusing
to him and he said, “I guess this is an American Gothic”.
Grant liked the contrast of a European window on an American farmhouse.
After he made sketches of the house, Grant looked for just the right people to go
with it.
He thought his sister Nan and their family dentist, would be perfect for the farmer
and his daughter.
These two gaunt figures with serious thin faces, for him were a representation of
the typical small-town Midwestern couple with values that he knew well.
He viewed them as strong and solid people who contributed to form the real
fiber of American life.
Look for the repeating pattern of the arch in this painting (the gothic windows, the
pitchfork, the pitchfork shape on the bib of the farmer’s overall).
Each element of the painting was painted separately. The models sat separately
and never stood in front of the house.
Grant entered the “American Gothic” in a big show at the Art Institute of Chicago,
and won the third place prize.
People all over America loved the newspaper pictures they saw of it. Soon,
Grant’s paintings started to become very popular.
One reason for this was that many people felt Grant’s art was easier to
understand than a lot of the new modern art being done.
Another reason Grant’s paintings became so popular was that they came along
during a rough time.
“American Gothic” has become one of the most familiar images in American 20th
century art and one of the most parodied artworks within American popular culture.
(Show other prints of American Gothic, Simpsons, Muppets, Legos and others.)
In the 1930’s the depression caused many people to lose their jobs and their life
savings, so it made people feel better to look at Grant Wood’s painting of beautiful
farmlands and proud, hard-working families who helped make America great. Grant
also painted pictures of famous American legends. While growing up, he had loved the
stories he heard about George Washington and Paul Revere. In “Midnight Ride of Paul
Revere” (show print: “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”) Grant showed the story as he
imagined it as a child. He painted broccoli-shaped trees and toy-like houses. The
roads go off into the background and seem to glow in the dark. Grant gave his painting
an almost fairytale look. Paul Revere’s horse even looks more like a wooden rocking
horse than a real horse!
Artist’s Biography
Grant Wood was born on the family farm outside of Anamosa, Iowa on February 13,
1891. As a young child, he loved farm life and this love continued throughout his life.
When he was three, he began drawing...chickens! Later on, lacking traditional art
supplies, he used brown wrapping paper and bits of charred wood dug from the family
stove to draw with.
His Quaker (a member of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian movement
devoted to peaceful principles) father was known as a “factual” man. Perhaps his
father’s no-nonsense, Midwestern persuasion influenced Grant’s artistic decision to
paint “real” subjects as opposed to the abstract. His father died when Grant was 10.
After his father’s death, the farm was taken from the family due to financial problems.
Grant, his mother, and sister moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Here for a period of nine
years, Grant did odd jobs -- lawn care, house painting, gardening and milking-- while
practicing his drawing each night. In 1913, he enrolled at the School of the Art Institute
of Chicago and did some work as a silversmith.
Grant decided he could make a living doing handicrafts until his art would support him.
He took classes in wood and metal and sustained himself as a forge assistant and night
watchman in a morgue. At the same time, he opened a handicraft shop and took
“sneak” classes at the University of Iowa. Though he wasn’t registered there, he began
an art class by convincing the professor he has “lost” his registration. He attended that
class for more than a year tuition-free! While he didn’t feel he was learning what he
wanted, the attendance the class did convince him that he wanted more training.
He moved to Chicago, started attending the Art Institute at night and worked daily in a
jewelry store. Shortly after, World War I broke out and he was drafted at 23. He ended
up being able to use his artistic talent by painting camouflage on tanks.
After the war he returned to Cedar Rapids and began to teach art in public schools to
support his mother and save money for a trip to Paris -- where every artist must go!
From 1920 to 1928 he made four trips to Europe where he studied many styles of
painting, especially impressionism (such as Mary Cassatt and Renoir) and postimpressionism (such as our artist last year Van Gogh). But he abandoned his
impressionist style after a trip to Germany. He was strongly influenced by the 15th
Century German and Flemish paintings and started using a more detailed, realistic
technique. (such as FAME artist Jan van Eyck and his painting “The Marriage of
Giovanni Arnolfini )
His first important painting was “John B. Turner, Pioneer”. Turner, the subject of the
canvas was in reality a local undertaker who had befriended Wood. But then came
American Gothic and he was an overnight success.
Wood worked slowly, averaging only two paintings a year, but was meticulous
concerning accuracy. His slow painting pace meant he had to supplement his income
in order to sustain himself. He taught at Iowa State and he insisted his students use
brown wrapping paper for practice.
Grant Wood helped found the Stone City Art Colony near his hometown to help artists
get through the Great Depression. He became a great proponent of Regionalism in
arts. In 1935 he married Sara Sherman but they were divorced 5 years later. After
divorcing his wife, he retired from teaching to paint full time. He died on February 12,
1942, one day before his 51st birthday. In tribute the state of Iowa designed there 2004
State Quarter to remember Grant Wood. (show picture.) His name appears on the coin
as well as a Grant Wood like scene of a oldtime school house and teacher.