There's More To This Controversial Painting Than You Think

Grant Wood's American Gothic depicts 1930 country folk. WHat started out has controversial, has turned into a classic that has been parodied over and over again.

[@Madfattdeeb]

Being a student of art and art history, I have come across this piece painting many times. I have never thought of the female model as "young" or the male model as "intimidating. " They just both appear stern, resound, and slightly sad.

[@MF-hz6xx]

Salt of the earth

[@Gizziiusa]

do you remember both of them looking straight out at you? instead of what is currently seen with the wife looking slightly to her left. the reason im asking is b/c there is a phenomena [that you may have heard of] called the mandela effect. many of us remember the former. just curious about what you remember. thx.

[@boa1793]

Sounds like Iowans to me.

[@Hectonkhyres]

Every time I hear the words 'Salt of the Earth' my brain responds with 'What? Like Carthage?' @@MF-hz6xx

[@StephenPickells-bi2ii]

I only remember her looking to the left

[@mournblade1066]

The funny thing is, this painting didn't take years to become famous; it was famous almost from the start. The subjects (both of whom were real people) became instant celebrities.

[@Kyle-nm1kh]

Thank the newspapers for that. That's like being on a famous TV commercial these days

[@timothymclaughlin5253]

In my mind the man and woman's facial expressions reflected the struggle and grim mood of the working class in America following the collapse of Wall Street

[@DaenerysStormborn-cw5ws]

Or maybe just the misery of being stuck in a rural backwater with nothing to look forward to but poverty & hard work, whether Wall Street flourished or not.

[@WhiteTriForce]

​@@DaenerysStormborn-cw5ws She was unburnt, but she had nice boobs ! 👈🥰👌 Swing ! 🥕👈😝

[@eddieboggs8306]

Notice how the woman is cutting her eyes toward the man. Women had it rough back then. Men could treat them rough and not get in trouble. Different era for sure .

[@mellie4174]

That's how I too see it

[@laattardo]

Relationships are not that much different now. A lot of that behavior is no longer acceptable and yet still happens. The difference is that we've made a collective decision to not ignore that behavior. Cruel people exist in every demographic. That's just life. However, I wish people would stop broadbrushing the past with such negative light. The less wealthy, the more likely one was to marry for feelings than those in the upper economics. There was just as much love then as now. Did women have more babies? Yes. Was health care as we know it even a thing? No. They lived as best they could, as we do now. We should always appreciate the people from the past. Without them, we wouldn't be us now. We might not even exist without them.

[@daleahlquist3440]

"I had to go to France to appreciate Iowa." That is the greatest defense of localism in one sentence.

[@christopherhelton6999]

I would say, "I had to be born in Kentucky to appreciate Europe."

[@kyletelford2353]

My wife is french, moved from Canada to move to France. miss it very much. People are stressed out and it's cramped. It has its virtues, but nothing compares to vast north America!!!

[@SKEptic-mg2dd]

I love that a realistic painting got so much attention in an era of emerging abstraction and non-objectivity.

[@agomodern]

Modernism was laughed at.

[@tedspens]

I never knew the story behind American Gothic, only that it was a famous American painting. What an interesting story!

[@aarone9000]

Do your own research; you'll be surprised at the number of interpretations this work has about it!

[@tedspens]

@@aarone9000 Thanks for the tip. I will 👍

[@blakedannion9232]

I lived in Cedar Falls and had no idea of the painting's connection.

[@doorcamper259]

Stop commenting stupid questions you do this literally like every video

[@mikenelson17]

Grant Wood's sister and his dentist pictured in "American Gothic" met for the first time 12 years after it was painted. Eldon, Iowa has a wonderful cultural center on the property this house still stands.

[@dr.henrykarlscherrchiropra3775]

I visited there in 2004 with my family and first learned about his sister and his dentist as subjects. His sister actually became a flamboyant fashion designer, the antithesis of her character in the painting.

[@johnwebster76]

I was there in May of 2020. The museum was closed but I enjoyed myself

[@XiaoGuanYin104]

Wait - you went to the museum while it was closed?

[@susanmerila4958]

I love American Gothic. Hard working, determined people willing and able to face anything-- that's how i see them.

[@doubledrats235]

You said “fear not.” Yes, “BE JUST AND FEAR NOT” (TRHPS).

[@susanpetropoulos1039]

Farmers know how serious life is. They are always at the mercy of the weather. This painting reflects that.

[@jamesnorton7601]

I see an old man, a unfulfilled unhappy young wife, who was married off at 14 most likely.

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

​@@jamesnorton7601that's just the influence of your communist professor.

[@susanmcnally6408]

I like American Gothic. I’ve always thought it was a brilliant piece. It’s an icon

[@daveburrows9876]

There's something nostalgic about this painting. The couple may not look like they belong at a Rockwellian Thanksgiving table, but I recognize them. Those austere faces aren't comfortable to gaze into, not exactly, but I understand them, or at least I think I do. He defiantly confronts us as outsiders not to be trusted. She looks away so as not to appear too interested but her eyebrows betray her concern. I became a fan of Craftsman Gothic architecture in part because of that window. It's the third character in this painting. Then I noticed his eyebrows and her hairline. His pitchfork is repeated almost as a shadow in the piping of his shirt. Wood repeats the roof pattern in both barn and house. The clapboard siding is also repeated in both. Her shapeless paper doll's dress whose pattern is repeated in the drapery, are as naïve and stereotypical as the trees. The colors of their clothes and the two buildings as well as the bubble-like tree forms are suggestions of things, stereotypical caricatures, yet those faces and his hand are like a Dutch master's portrait. He really wanted us to notice those.

[@bhatkat]

Suggests a world without garish billboards and advertising or pollution. No life in the fast lane but with limited possibilities, few of the options we have these days. With little contentment in the faces, his more of resentments and disappointment. An age of repression that they are unaware of having never experienced anything else. Technically free but never able to enjoy it as we are.

[@lindak8664]

Can’t tell you how many times we’ve replicated that painting for various events family photos, birthdays, Easter, Christmas etc. Its up to 2 great grandparents, 9 adults, 2 teens 2 babies and 4 dogs now. All holding ludicrous tools, from wooden spoon to power tools to the obligatory pitch fork. All of us trying not to laugh, face the front, don’t blink and keep a long face. It’s become the highlight of the event. Even the teens get into it, just don’t tell their friends 😂 🔱

[@Cheeseatingjunlista]

Happily slightly deranged!!! Good luck to you and yours!!!

[@margaretschultz6209]

I would love to see those lol

[@theresagomez2605]

Fun!

[@impunitythebagpuss]

Lol..I repainted it with pig's faces...my copy was borrowed by a theatre group in Arizona and put on their playbill of a production of Animal Farm! They sent me tickets...but I live in rural Newfoundland!

[@apollion888]

$300 was half a year of groceries in 1930 Thanks for the informative video

[@SoulsJourney]

Very interesting to learn about the backstory. I never especially liked or disliked this piece, but I think I like it a lot more now.

[@moledaddy]

I always liked American Gothic. I thought these were people to be looked up to. You can tell life was hard for them, but they seem unfazed. It's like they think the artist is frivolous, but politely humor him. I never paid much attention to the house. It's interesting how something so random as an attic window would be the one fancy thing about these people's lives. It's like their lives are plain, but they have a quiet pride in it. Maybe that makes them more relatable.

[@thomasdye6424]

One way to get more in depth with Wood's work is to know he also illustrated many of Sinclair Lewis's novels. Both tried to show what was there in the Midwest, for better or for worse.

[@miapdx503]

I was 11 or 12 when I read The Jungle. It had a profound effect on me. I had my children read it when they were that age.

[@Lucius1958]

@@miapdx503 'The Jungle' was by Upton Sinclair, not Sinclair Lewis.

[@miapdx503]

@@Lucius1958 oh yeah! That's right. I have a bad memory impairment, from a head injury. I was close this time...😔

[@caseyclausen2627]

The Jungle is also great.

[@melaniesmith1313]

I see two people who have worked hard on their land facing the grim reality of The Great Depression. They seem almost defiant in the face of hardship caused by outside forces. I see the house behind built by people with very little money striving to make it beautiful anyway by adding the churchlike window. The window also reflects their faith in a time of privation. That's my take, anyway.

[@LuNaa52]

I'm lucky, that I get to see this home everyday, in every seasonal change. It is very special. The visitors love coming to see it, to take pictures and roll play in costumes of the couple in the painting.

[@Torgo-and-the-Lucifer-Cat]

This painting proves that people see what they want to see and if they see fear and horror it is simply a reflection of what they already know is inside of them❤

[@welshpete12]

A very wise insight . But that is what art does to us.

[@miapdx503]

Art doesn't say much, but it speaks volumes, if you listen with your heart...🌹

[@monteirolobato6830]

I'll have to think about this. I'm not certain I agree, but I appreciate the insight.@@bluedeemster3259

[@scubamaz1]

It's TRUMP'S FAULT!!!

[@markrichards6863]

The painting has a very uneasy feeling, harsh people, hard life. I've always thought it was provocative. From what my grandparents told me about the Great Depression, I think Wood captured the mood and concern of what was happening.

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

You want an uneasy feeling? Remember when the lady had salt and pepper hair and was looking straight ahead? No ghost story more unsettling than that.

[@__seeker__]

I’ve always loved this painting and never once thought Wood was satirizing or belittling anyone by it. The fact that people like Gertrude Stein didn’t get it, shows how divorced _they_ were from the world around them.

[@zargonfuture4046]

Love American Gothic, it goes beyond what the painter envisioned in my opinion and gives a quite eerily feel to the painting, a disconnect of when, why and whom which is that remarkable quality few paintings capture. This painting gives different feelings to different people and is a masterpiece.

[@Cheeseatingjunlista]

Total agreement

[@trevorhoward2254]

I'm English. I've known the picture for forty years. It has always spoken to me of the loss of tradition and traditional values which came with the move from country to town, in the US and even here in Europe.

[@jarlsoars1150]

Hello, from Grant Wood's hometown! It's funny because as I've grown up here having seen many of his original paintings, lithographs and assemblages at the CRMA, I've actually never seen American Gothic. But it's on my list of to-dos. My understanding is that he sold the painting to the Art Institute Of Chicago early on and it's been there since. You might also like Marvin Cone's work, a contemporary and maybe Thomas Hart Benton or John Steuart Curry(all regionalist/WPA era artists).

[@trevorhoward2254]

@@jarlsoars1150 Thankyou for your information and reccomendations. It's a miserable, rainy Sunday morning here in England. I will spend the afternoon looking up the names you give and their work.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

​@@trevorhoward2254WPA stands for "Works Progress Administration" one of the "alphabet soup" agencies set up by Roosevelt to provide work for artists during the Depression. I'll bet ten quid that you've never heard of Thomas Hart Benton. American artists are not well known in either Europe or America. We colonials are used to looking "up" to Europe as the "font of 🌿High Culture🌿". But Wood and the American Regionists are worth looking at. Check out John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and, above all, the painters of the Hudson River School when you're in the mood to explore a richer heritage than many even imagine.

[@hknapp-hj2sn]

I've always been drawn to this painting. I think it's wonderful that it's been included respectfully and with good humor in two very different classic films that I love: The Music Man (and in the play), and in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[@davegreenlaw5654]

YES! I remember watching that clip from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and my attention was focused on the family in the background as they transformed the church from the wedding to a funeral instead of Brad and Janet in the foreground.

[@gordangraham]

This has to be one of the most iconic paintings and though none of the rest of his work strikes a cord, this one does. Although I paint, draw and do pen and ink I have never considered myself an artist, but an illustrator. Norman Rockwell is by far one of my favorite artists who never called himself an artist, but an illustrator. Great video.

[@maggielandrey7232]

Norman is legendary! Never knew he didn't consider himself an artist, but illustrator instead. I like that, it fits him greatly Though he did have great technical skill with his medium of choice, I'd argue he's definitely an artist too 😊

[@MisterMac4321]

The 'Norman Wait Harris Medal' that Wood received was the second place award, not third place as the article states. The Medal was first established in 1902 as a Trust to the Art Institute of Chicago. It was to be awarded to an American painter or sculptor (as selected by a committee composed of governing members of the Trust) who had their work displayed at the Art Institute. Then as now, the prizes are awarded in two ranks: the Silver (or first place) Medal and the Bronze Medal (for the runner up). There are also cash payments associated with the Medals ($500 for the Silver Medal and $300 for the Bronze - the monetary amounts have remained unchanged since the Medal was first established).

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

So , you know the history. I don't think you know the painting. Remember when the lady had salt and pepper hair and looked straight ahead? I sure do.

[@theCPRgals]

American Gothic has always fascinated and inspired me. It is nice to know the back story. I always saw this couple as Americans who were simple, hard working farmers, with old fashioned values. I saw them as straight forward, say what you mean, mean what you say folks who made deals with a handshake, cared about the land, their neighbors, and community, and were very content with their choice of lifestyle - very nonpretentious. I appreciate that. When I first saw The Wizard of Oz as a child, I loved Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. As I got older and had seen the movie many times, I related the two of their characters with the two in American Gothic. Thank you for sharing the story.

[@susankuhlman6514]

I love it. I feel it shows the grit of the Midwestern people, especially during the depression. I have driven across the country sever times, which is mostly unusual for most Americans. My kids, our dog, a few friends hit the road in the summer, since I was a teacher and had some cash from a little business I had. The first trip in the 90's we saw closed downtown stores in little towns, blaming the local Walmart. The last trip was California to Cape Cod, 3,030 miles. I drove state highways and had to stop at a house for gas because all of the local gas stations were closed. The towns were dead. There were closed dental offices and those cute shops that sold quilting materials were gone. The people were gone. I saw closed high schools with weeds growing in the former football fields. It seems that big time agriculture had taken over and young people had just left. Tumpble weed blew down main streets. But I have heard about a change. People can now work at home, so why not move to cute towns in Iowa? I have heard of one dead town that now has an ice cream shop. There is hope. My Michigan is just tourism, but that will never be the call for Iowa, so perhaps these gothic types will spring up again, as long as they can get good wifi.

[@sixchuterhatesgoogle3824]

I live in a thriving little town of 1,400. We have an Art Deco service station, a Casey's (of course), a grocery store, a bar, a bank, three churches, a diner, and a coffee shop. And fiber-optic internet too.

[@baystgrp]

Wood was an artistic genius, a man in love with the heartland of his country. His style is muralistic (don’t know if that’s a term that accurately applies, but it resonates with me): clean, unencumbered. My favorite Wood painting is “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”, showing the windows of the houses along Revere’s route illuminated as he passes them, with the darkened homes lying further along the road.

[@sixchuterhatesgoogle3824]

I believe he called his style "regionalism".

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

UK viewer here, so I don't have an American perspective on the painting, but I can't help wondering whether people were over thinking about its symbolism. To me, it just seems to capture a moment in time, and to capture it wonderfully. A frank and honest portrayal of two people looking out at a world that's changing in front of their eyes, unsure of what the future holds but having solid values to anchor them.

[@Gentleman_Songster]

Yes . . . and no! 😊 Any painting is ipso facto false, in the sense that it's not the real thing -- remember 'Ceci 'est pas une pipe'. It's the painter's representation of, well, whatever the painter wanted to convey. But specifically, this painting is intended by the painter to convey a typical honest, hard-working and honourable American couple and their house. In fact, it's NOT their house, they're NOT a couple, and they're NOT farmers! Nevertheless, it's honest in the sense of Wood's homage to a vanishing American way of life.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

​@@Gentleman_SongsterIt may interest you to know that his dentist said that, prior to posing for this painting, he had never even held a hay fork in his hands.

[@robertdesantis6205]

​@@peterkilbridge6523Personally, if my dentist came at me with a pitchfork . . .😳

[@peterkilbridge6523]

@@robertdesantis6205 Brilliant move by Wood to pick him. Perfect face, but the exact opposite of how he actually was in real life. Wood had to cajole him into posing: he didn't really want to. Wood promised him anonymity but then broke his promise. These Bohemian artists! Well, he wasn't as bad as Gaugin, who abandoned his wife and children in France to paint topless Polynesian girls in Tahiti.

[@borromine]

Carpenter gothic as you call it was in fact a brilliant style better known in a wider context as stick style. It was well suitable to the new ballon frame construction and has countless examples of very great vernacular architecture. I’m not sure who was denigrating it but the style was hardly conservative or backward looking. While Grant maintained he was cherishing rural values. the Daughters of the American Revolution painting is clearly a satire or even a condemnation of the DAR.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

Wood went to Germany (Weimar Republic; think of the film "Cabaret") after WW I to study art. The DAR criticised him for hobnobbing with the barbaric Hun. He painted Daughters of Revolution to whack them back. Note the thick, bottom-of-a-Coke-bottle glasses on the women (to illustrate that they can barely see). Behind them hangs Washington Crossing the Delaware...by German artist Frederick Leutze. Leutze painted it in Germany using the Rhine to stand in for the Delaware. I doubt the "good" ladies got the joke.

[@thunderbolt2145]

In the '70's I lived in Kansas as a kid. My mother had this work hanging in her bedroom and it fascinated me. Being an artist myself, I remember being drawn to the window when studying it. It makes sense now, but I knew then there was something special about it, I just didn't know what. Grant did a fine job with the framing of this piece; the human subjects appear intimidating yet reflect wholesomeness at the same time. The elongated faces kind of disturbed me as a kid, yet after learning why they are so, just reflects the skill of the artist.

[@DaenerysStormborn-cw5ws]

This painting isn't controversial, it's just misunderstood. I don't know which is worse, people thinking it's an old man with a miserable-looking young wife. Or the actual case, a miserable-looking man guarding his unhappy daughter like a Midwestern Taliban. In either case, it shows no sentimentality about the sadness & rigidity of rural life at that time.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

I have two books about Wood. His artistic education in Europe and, perhaps even more, his homosexuality, put him at odds with the Iowa of his day. His "Daughters of Revolution" is much more savage than "American Gothic" as criticism.

[@VunderGuy]

'Like a mid-western Taliban' So... guarding her like a man destined to always win? XD

[@VunderGuy]

Hoe-moes are gaye and destined to go back into their closets or face total extinction in the West.

[@russellseaton2014]

" the sadness & rigidity of rural life" This probably does not apply to the farmers around Eldon Iowa at the time. The American Gothic house is located in Eldon, Iowa. In the southeast corner of Iowa along the Des Moines River. Most of the farm ground around Eldon is excellent. Lots of very fertile river bottom land. There are hilly areas on both sides of the river that are not great farm land. The farmers around Eldon were doing just fine. Growing bumper crops on their great farm ground. Raising lots of animals for food. No sadness for the farmers. And the big prosperous town of Ottumwa was only 12 miles away via train or road. So the farmers around Eldon could experience the big city life when they wanted. And the Gothic house is actually inside the Eldon city limits. It is not a farm house. Its inside the town. Surrounded by other houses and blocks of houses. Wood painted the man with a pitchfork to give it a farm appearance. But the Gothic house is a city house.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

@@russellseaton2014 All true and all irrelevant. Wood didn't expect his viewers to know or care about your excellent town of Eldon, Iowa. He didn't expect them to know or care about the excellent farms around Eldon, Iowa or the happy and prosperous farmers around Eldon, Iowa. He didn't care if they knew about the excellent train service available from Eldon, Iowa. And I say: May Almighty Jehovah punish those who would dare blaspheme the good name of Eldon, Iowa! 🌿 Wood was a painter, a visual dude. He sees this house; it catches his fancy. He uses it as the background for his satiric masterpiece. No offence to the fine people of Eldon, Iowa. 🌿

[@jeffreyyoung4104]

Every time I see it, it reminds me of a couple I lived near who were retired and had their farmhouse, and still grew their own food and went to church every Sunday and Wednesday. Sadly, they passed many decades ago, but I still remember them, especially when I see this picture! For me, it brings back happy times in the country!

[@huveja9799]

I don't know them but it made me melancholic ..

[@jeffreyyoung4104]

@@huveja9799 Sorry? Did it depress you?

[@huveja9799]

@@jeffreyyoung4104 Not at all, without knowing the couple you described, I understood the situation perfectly because I know similar people who are no longer with us, and at the same time it brought back good memories and the sadness that they were no longer with us ..

[@initiativeplaytherapy88]

What I love is how Rocky Horror uses the imagery from the painting, including the repeating themes. It's like it's contrasting the puritanical values of the painting against the sexual vulgarity presented in the film.

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

Yes,but rocky horror had a black haired chick. Like the painting used to be.

[@susanprendergast7384]

When I realized I'd seen the most recent of these paintings *by accident, totally*, and then witnessed the stories, I also realized you guys had a great deal of interest to say. I subscribed. I studied under John Paul Miller and Victor Schreckengost over fifty years ago. As well as other fine designers and artists. Such a gang of teachers isn't available today

[@ajmittendorf]

Dr. Byron McKeebe was also my grandmother's dentist. Her older sister, Miriam, married Dr. McKeebe's son, Byron Jr. I grew up loving the art of Grant Wood and of Eleanor Douglas, who died in 1914. She was my great, great auntie on my maternal grandmother's side, and a very famous artist in her day, as well.

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

So why don't you remember that the lady used to have salt and pepper hair?

[@ajmittendorf]

@@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv Hmm, it seems to me that I didn't mention anyone's hair at all, so I regard your question as irrelevant and ignorant.

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

@@ajmittendorf No , what's ignorant is talking about the history of a painting as if you are very familiar with it ,but failing to notice a gigantic change to it. Maybe you are just covering up for your lack of awareness. As someone who seems to care about the painting,it would seem that you would be interested to realize that something so important had happened to it. And I don't mean that someone made changes to it. It's much more interesting than that.

[@robertstilson2901]

I stood a mere few inches from the painting mesmerized by the vividness of detail, particularly the eyes. It is a masterpiece; one of those rare expression of genius that occasionally float above the murky waters of critics. I submit to experiencing an overwhelming sense of the rarest of rare human encounters: the awe inspired by magnificence.

[@risk5riskmks93]

What a joy. Seeing a painting in real life is always such a transformative experience. I had that with “Whistler’s Mother.” It’s such an icon that we don’t really see it anymore, but standing in front of it for half an hour, seeing the detail, and how many of the brushstrokes were partial to create the whole, was an experience I won’t forget.

[@mournblade1066]

@@risk5riskmks93 Was that before or after Mr. Bean "altered" _Whistler's Mother_ ? Oscar Wilde: "Your Majesty, have you met James MacNeil Whistler?" Prince Albert Edward: "Yes, we play squash together back at the palace." Wide: "There is only one thing worse than playing squash together, and that is playing it by oneself. [pause] I wish I hadn't said that." James Whistler: "You did, Oscar, you did."

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

Did you see it before or after the lady lost her salt and pepper hair?

[@locutorest]

I have never loved nor hated the painting ; but I'd say that I have been profoundly disappointment by efforts to parody it. I've always seen the couple as standing on one side of a divide perhaps in some sort of rapid retreat. a moment lost just as it is recognized.

[@bicyclist2]

I had no idea about the history behind this painting. Very interesting. I like it. A artist in Columbus Ohio painted a giant mural of this painting on the side of a brick building. Unfortunately it all got covered up when a commercial property developer put up a building right next door. Very cool. Thank you.

[@marytataryn5144]

One thing you didn't mention is that photography in those days got people to make sure they did not smile, but held a neutral expression, which this painting has done to the max. Because in a photo, if you moved, the picture got blurred. Maybe that's one of the elements he tried to convey in the painting. Most people who had their portrait taken were looking directly at the camera though, and the woman in the painting is not.

[@BlackDoveNYC]

I think you’re thinking of an earlier period in terms of photography. By 1930 - really by probably 1920, photography had advanced such that one could display various emotional states when being photographed. The era you seem to be referencing is more like the 19th century.

[@marytataryn5144]

@@BlackDoveNYC it could be though, his references or memories. ...for instance, the clothing is not the roaring 20s...

[@PoesRaven73]

A more logical explanation is that for most people, having your picture taken was a serious undertaking. They might only have one picture taken in their entire lives. Their expressions matched the seriousness of the experience, and correlated to the expressions reflected in oil paintings (and yes, I understand we’re talking about an oil painting here, but I’m referring to photographs).

[@user-co8uy5rb2s]

I'll forever think of the intro song to the series GREEN ACRES. There was also a Corn Flakes tv ad that made fun of this painting too. Back in the 1970s.

[@caseyclausen2627]

The roaring 20s as we imagine it was experienced by very few people in the United States.

[@mikeramsay5964]

I'm a big fan of Grant Wood. I went to an exhibition of his work at the Whitney in NYC. Love his work and the stories behind them. The story behind Daughters of the American Revolution is pretty funny.

[@kimberlysabillon3005]

This painting is Iconic. They even addressed it in the opening scenes of the TV Show" Green Acres"

[@BlackDoveNYC]

I always thought it was an interesting painting though like’Whistler’s Mother’ or the explicitly commercial work of Norman Rockwell the way it struck me was a depiction of how white America saw itself at that particular time. I’ve always liked it because it is an image that makes you stop and consider what you are looking at. I also like the arch severity of work. I think that’s why it has been so popular to this day. You can’t not look at it and not have some kind of response. Something I feel all really good art should do, make you feel something.

[@DaenerysStormborn-cw5ws]

You think white America saw itself as a rigid old man standing guard over his unhappy daughter like an American Taliban? This is the most symbolism-laden image of subtle criticism of American rural stinginess of spirit that was ever painted. It never ceases to amaze me how misunderstood & sentimentalized this picture is. Grant Wood fooled them then & he' still doing it now.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

I could not agree more. It seems to me that 🌿 "Art" 🌿 has become so solipsistic (see Tom Wolfe's amusing criticism in "The Painted Word") and "high-falutin' " with work by Jackson Pollock and Jasper Johns and their ilk that it has no impact on society any more. It has abstracted itself into irrelevancy. When "The Raft of the Medusa" was first shown in Paris, it created a sensation. When "Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe" was shown, it created a scandal. Wood wanted to say something. Look at his "Daughters of Revolution" to see just how biting his brush could be.

[@Cheeseatingjunlista]

@@peterkilbridge6523 Thats not "Art" destroying itself, thats "Marketing" as the coporate hydra colonizes all space

[@peterkilbridge6523]

@@Cheeseatingjunlista Let's be honest: a lot of the 💩"Art"💩 market now is simply money laundering. How to transfer money from A to B? Use 💩"Art"💩 as a sort of check. Buy "Red Rectangle Against Chartreuse Field: Agony and Ecstacy of Modern Man" for $30 million, take it to Dubai or Rotterdam, sell it for $30 million.

[@remley8877]

Woods painted this while building a loft apartment for himself and his mother in the garage if a friend's funeral home, where he lived the rest of his life. He also painted a huge mural at a local bar. The apartment is still available for tours as far as I know. As for his rent and living expenses, the funeral director and later his son bought most of Woods works for cash at a fair price, but now they're worth millions.

[@ScottRedstone]

Beautiful work. Pained look from woman. Suffering in silence and hoping to help. Man seems stunned by the state of the world around him. Strong yet scared.

[@lastzeen]

You seem unnecessarily sour as you describe this painting and setting. It's a very unique and beautiful piece. I happened to be driving through Eldon on a trip with my daughter and upon seeing a road sign, we stopped at the site on a whim. The property is maintained by the state now, and we drove up to the Visitor's Center not really knowing what to expect. As we parked, the house was seen not far away. We went inside the center and were met by some some really nice local people that described the artist, painting and circumstances that led up to its creation. Ten minutes later, they asked, so would you like to take a photo of yourselves like the painting? Moments later, my daughter and I were dressed up in clothing they provided at no charge, including a dress, necklace, round spectacles, overalls, and of course that special hay pitchfork. Laughing, we made our way out to the house, and the docent used our phone to take a bunch of incredible photos for us. These were the nicest and most accomodating people you could ever meet. The photos turned out spectacular. They are absolutely in the middle of nowhere, but you must stop if you ever have the chance.

[@PropellerSteve]

Very good, thanks for sharing.

[@jeffbroders9781]

As a kid in grade school i got a poster of this painting. I don't know why I was attracted to it, I just was. Decades later I purchased a framed oil painting (reproduction) of the painting and have it in my office.

[@chrismyers2047]

Dr McKeeby was the grandfather of the artist and art professor of the same name. I was a student at the University of Tennessee when Mr McKeeby passed away in '84. He was my roomate's printmaking professor.

[@rjwh67220]

I knew Thomas Hart Benton when I was at the Kansas City Art Institute. He said he always teased Grant Wood about it, that the picture showed a farmer with his wife AND his daughter.

[@tombloom99]

My dad John Bloom was a close friend of Wood. He talked often of Woods paintings including some he contributed to. So I should have some insights about this one. I don't.

[@davidcoles198]

We had a copy of American Gothic hanging in our living room. A visitor wanted to know if it was my wife’s parents.

[@QuarrellaDeVil]

My father-in-law bore a striking resemblance to the farmer. I always kept my mouth shut about it.

[@craigathonian]

Like the painting....but love the reference in the opening scene of The Rocky Horror Picture Show...perfection !

[@ARTSIEBECCA]

I was in Chicago a few years ago and I was so excited to see this painting, got to the museum and it was on loan to the Cincinnati Museum of Art..the state I live in...lol

[@caseyclausen2627]

Lol, did you at least get to see Picture of Dorian Gray in the next room? I always like to look at that one while waiting for the crowd around American Gothic to disperse.

[@ARTSIEBECCA]

@caseyclausen2627 I did and the Van Gogh self portrait,so all is not lost. Lol

[@clintonwatkins1070]

I'm happy to have found this video, mainly because I never understood what was so great about this painting. It's well painted, but so are the dogs playing poker. I've always seen it as a married couple (I know it's really meant to be father and daughter, but until recently I never knew that.), and how hard work and poor living had beaten them down. And to a degree, it is. Also, the title is no longer a mystery to me. Thanks!

[@lewisdoherty7621]

I'm surprised you didn't take a screen grab from the beginning of GREEN ACRES where the two characters are posed with a pitchfork in front of their house with the same expressions.

[@fredblonder7850]

Or The Rocky Horror Picture Show

[@gabrielerosa665]

I really appreciate this painting from the first time I Saw It, It was while i'm reading a book about "Regionalis Art"......and then I also discovered the paintings of Thomas Benton Harper, visiting Bilbao Guggeinhem Museum in 2008 I received a surprising gift: a Regionalista Art Exposition!! I'm writing now from Barcelona, but the Regionalista Art book I'had rode was in Montevideo's Artigas Washington library in a far...far 70's years . Another century, but the same Magic revisiting the Paint. Thanks for your video

[@deanframe9095]

Ok I was pretty sure this announcers critique was going to lack death, but after listening to the whole thing, absolutely love art I felt the story tearing me apart back-and-forth and leaning into the story I wanted him to understand Iowa. I have never been to Iowa. This painting made me wish for the farm country. Now I live in Minnesota. I’m pretty sure Iowa has more farms then they do hear. But this narrator brought the picture so much meaning! I recommend subscribing to this narrator. Thanks.

[@canbenchecocat9729]

Perhaps you meant "depth" ?

[@teresadenham4417]

I live 30 min away from the Gothic house They have a museum there. You can still take your picture in front of the gothic house. Bring your own pitch fork.😊 Eldon, Ia

[@bigneiltoo]

I worked in Cedar Rapids and drove to the Mississippi River in Dubuque. Along the way is Anamosa which is a cozy, small town where Grant Wood was famously from.

[@33Donner77]

I heard that Grant's interpretation of his work was that the woman (Grant's sister) is supposed to be the daughter of the farmer (Grant's dentist).

[@jerrewilliams5555]

I love American Gothic. It is all of those things you said so well. It is like a mirror of feeling in that one can change reactions to the painting easily.

[@DopeShow]

This is one of my, if not the, favourite modern art works. I can look at it for hours, dreaming away.

[@teaohar2]

I would have liked to learn about the significance of the repeated three vertical lines in the painting. Was there a reason for this?

[@richardrye7200]

Ringing through my ears is the French Revolutionary's statement: "The peasants still have their pitchforks!"

[@annecosgrove2133]

I can’t take my eyes off it. I also love his landscapes. They remind me off some of the vistas in the farming area near where I live in PA. Beautiful. Were the backgrounds in the Wizard of Oz inspired by his landscapes?

[@SgtJoeSmith]

i already new this as i took several art classes in college in iowa. and yes its 1 my favorites

[@peteroutlaw7207]

I love America Gothic. I see so much depth in it. I look at the wife, and she feels old and so sad. I see worry in the husband face. I feel life is hard, but we will overcome.

[@lucindasavona2278]

A copy of that painting hung in the corridor of our high school when I was a teenager. It was there until the school was sold. Then the painting vanished when the school was being demolished.

[@SSmith-fm9kg]

I've always felt it was a picture of vanishing America...values of life that are almost gone to many. There is a sadness to the painting.

[@cqbarnieify]

I’m embarrassed to admit my ignorance regarding the backstory of this iconic American painting-until now that is. Thank you for enlightening me. I never cared much for the painting in the past, as I viewed it to be too harsh for my taste. I actually appreciate it now. So again, I thank you.

[@salamander0haze]

The homeowners really got done dirty - I thought it was a lovely home, dude. I'll never be able to afford a home with the incorrect, gothic-style windows...

[@firebearva]

I had the honor of seeing this exceptional work while in Chicago to see the visiting Monet exhibition. It was definitely a worthwhile experience.

[@frankhooper7871]

The similarity between the woman's apron and the curtains - and the vertical lines of the house's cladding being mirrored in the man - were particularly interesting. Weird allusion to the name Nan though; unusual nowadays to be sure, but a quite common name/nickname in the past.

[@patrickhicks9880]

It stays with you even if it's slightly creepy I also like it

[@trunkmonkey9417]

I was born in the 50's and when old enough to understand and recall, It was still a bit of a controversy. As for the painting, I liked it, in an odd unsettled way, and still see it much the same. In certain times of my life I liked it less, and other times, I liked it more. For the longest time, I saw it as a man and wife, but then after having daughter, and they had grown into adults, I recall thinking how you that woman was, and then believed either she was a very young wife (as did occur in those days) or more likely his daughter. I am still not sure, as viewing the painting from the point of view of not knowing the painter's intent. But the painting like many things in my life, both positive and negative, is still comforting to view. It is a part of me as are all the memories of my life. And the painting reflects all of those memories, in all the manner of good, bad, sweet, sad, all of it, in some unique connection.

[@NerakGreen]

Imagine someone asking to paint ur house and they literally mean they wanna sit on the curb and paint a portrait of ur house. Dang, I just grabbed the semi-gloss for nothing. I always thought this painting made the couple look bitter and serious, like excommunicated Amish folk still living righteously outside of their community alone. The way she looks at him is like she’s his tender, like a sister or cousin instead of a wife. His widow status would explain his sour expression to spite the woman’s comfort at his shoulder. With the two being posed separately, the artist had to imagine the chemistry of emotions in his painting. That’s kinda cool to know. I totally get why a single sister didn’t wanna risk looking foolish in front of a dr. I just feel like the art would’ve been different if the models posed together as the type of couple the artist wanted to portray. To think he guessed facial features and body language and then altered it to match other aspects of his painting is really quite snazzy. That’s cool

[@Odood19]

I like to think that fancy window is one of the few nice things they have. An otherwise humble (humble to the extreme, maybe) man and woman live in an otherwise humble house, but they don't forget the importance of beauty and the little things that make life happy.

[@robertdesantis6205]

It could have even been salvaged from an old church.

[@commandermudpie]

Love this. Visited it three times at the Chicago Museum of Art. A must see (and they also have Sunday in the Park!)

[@richardbullwood5941]

When I worked at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, now called Newfields, they did a study on grant wood and American depression-era art and spoke of this painting in particular. The docent giving a lecture actually said that it was widely known in the art world that it was meant to poke fun at Midwestern people for being stuffy, old, and backward. It's funny, because I'm 52 years old now, and I can guarantee you life on that fictional farm would be better than anything found in any City now.

[@RonaldReagan99-oh2dv]

So why don't you mention that the lady used to have salt and pepper hair and looked straight ahead? "Luke,I am your father".

[@danielmaxwell6676]

I have always loved this painting. Reminded me of my grandparents.

[@DaenerysStormborn-cw5ws]

Then I guess your family must have been pretty awful. Do you think an old man standing guard over his miserable daughter like an American Taliban is a HAPPY picture? Do these look like happy people with a healthy relationship to you? Or do you just not get the point at all?

[@jonslagill8864]

Wholesomeness, clean, pure is the thought that comes to my mind. When I first saw this as a kid, my first thought was why they guy had a pitchfork.

[@darryllandry9904]

You know, instead of some false grandeur displayed in the style of the home, it is quite likely that the window was free or cheap. Maybe from a closed church or something. And used by the builder because he had it.

[@jfcaffrey22]

Arts of Earth - As the story is told (or you tell the story), when Grant Wood first saw the house, he thought the Gothic-style window "a structural absurdity". So we have a painter constructing a composition using as the background something he considered "absurd". How could this be anything but a parody? Here are two definitions of 'parody': 1) A composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way. 2) Make a spoof of or make fun of. Despite quotes from Wood's biographer, or Grant Wood himself - let each viewer decide or discern what he or she may. That this painting was instantly controversial speaks to its 'cleverness' - AND that it deliberately contains mixed messages. No matter what the painting means - and to whom, thanks for compiling some interesting information about this painting. Best, Jim

[@argusfleibeit1165]

I saw that painting long before I ever met any rural people. The man's expression frightened me. I think I felt accused by him, like my life was way too easy and silly. His life was hard and serious, and he resented people like me. I think I got a weird impression about rural people, and I always felt ill-at-east around them.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

"The farmer is the man, the farmer is the man who lives on credit till the Fall. If you'll only look and see I think you will agree that the farmer is the man that feeds them all." - Pete Seeger

[@billclifford4621]

i love it and each year the grands pose for a pic to emulate in homage of our rural Indiana home.ty

[@kerriwilson7732]

The subjects look like they are struggling, but have honour, resilience... and are quite capable of skewering any disrespectful outsider with that pitchfork. 💕🇨🇦

[@billietyree2214]

I drove by there a few years ago, the house was unchanged.

[@jefferyharper659]

i first saw it on the rocky horror picture show, i have a print of it on the wall. love the way his eyes follow you around the room

[@ruthsaunders9507]

This is a nice cozy painting. I've got pictures of my parents, grandparent and other relatives doing this pose. Its really popular in rural America.

[@Jim-hu7pj]

I happened to be in Boulder Colorado and see the actual window from that painting built into another equally unlikely house.

[@williamgoss4691]

Fascinating Art Doc, Thks !

[@truongvo5785]

J. Theodore Johnson won first prize with "The black mantilla" at the 43rd Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition.

[@kj9093]

I love American Gothic, it's one of my favorite paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago!

[@Another_taco.Yes_please]

Have always loved this painting. Thank you for the history.

[@beckymorton7718]

I see the gothic, church-like window representing the hidebound religiosity and conservatism of the post-pioneer Mid-Westerners. The woman in the picture’s narrative wears the same fabric pattern as the window curtains, however they are lace and inside the upstairs loft. That window should domain what goes on in that loft. To her right are a few succulents plants and a green bamboo shade, the only exotic features in the painting, to brighten an otherwise plain, but upstart house. The man holds a common farm tool that’s also associated with the Devil. There is sinister pitchfork design in the bib of his overalls. While there are plants on her side of the house, there is no agriculture seen on the man’s side. In spite of the pitchfork, there is no hay in the loft of the barn. I can’t decide if this is a husband and wife or father and daughter. They both have the same melancholy, long faces. That could be from shared boredom and drudgery rather than DNA.

[@jameswingert9596]

🤣I have no idea why he needed to ask that when he'd already met the owners😅😂🙌🏾 very cool video

[@hatednyc]

Secrets behind American Gothic?! Yes, please!! I always think of the opening to Growing Pains. They expertly paired this with paintings of similar subject matter throughout the ages. So great.

[@douglastarvestad186]

I actually live in cedar rapids and drive passed where he painted this. He stayed in an apartment above a horse carriage house. Now a museum.

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

This is the perfect "I make videos by summarizing elaborate stuff for stupid people on youtube" voice.

[@notsure8338]

Thank you, that was very educational and interesting.