Depicting a Midwestern farmer and his wife or daughter standing in front of their Carpenter Gothic style home, American Gothic is one of the most famous American paintings of the 20th century and is frequently referenced in popular culture.

When it was exhibited at the Art Institute in 1930, the painting became an instant sensation, its ambiguity prompting viewers to speculate about the figures and their story. Many understood the work to be a satirical comment on midwesterners out of step with a modernizing world.

May 23, 2025 · American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood completed in 1930. The hard, cold realism of this painting and the honest, direct, earthy quality of its subject were unusual in the American art of its time.

Mar 26, 2023 · Few paintings capture the essence of American culture like Grant Wood’s “American Gothic.” The iconic portrait, depicting a stern-faced farmer and his spinster daughter standing in front of their Iowa farmhouse, has become …

Dec 12, 2019 · Wood’s prizewinning picture, portraying a hard-bitten farming couple and entitled American Gothic, was soon to be championed as the masterpiece of a new American art movement called ‘Regionalism’, first invented, and then promoted, by an impresario and art dealer from Kansas named Maynard Walker.

American Gothic is unquestionably Wood's masterpiece and ranks among the finest portrait paintings of its day. Like the Mona Lisa, it remains an enigmatic composition, but one which has become an icon of American art of the 20th century as well as one of the greatest paintings of Midwest Americana.

Jul 12, 2005 · The story behind the painting is the subject of Thomas Hoving's book American Gothic: The Biography of Grant Wood's American Masterpiece. A native of Iowa, Wood and his paintings were rooted in...

Jul 7, 2024 · One of the most iconic paintings is Grant Wood’s America Gothic. For many, it is the ultimate American work of art. American Gothic, painted by Grant Wood in 1930, is one of the most recognizable and parodied artworks in American culture.

Some people thought that Grant Wood was making fun of small town folk. The house had an unusual window. The design is based on Gothic architecture which originates from Europe, as opposed to an American farmhouse. The contrast caught the artist’s attention that led to the painting of American Gothic. Reception of the Painting

“American Gothic,” painted by Grant Wood in 1930 using oil on board, is a seminal work of the Regionalism art movement. The artwork, a portrait with dimensions of 62.4 by 74.3 cm, is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, United States.