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WHITNEY ACTIVITY GUIDE GRANT WOOD FLOOR 5 WELCOME Until he was almost forty years old, Grant Wood was a relatively unknown painter in Iowa, where he’d grown up. He’d gone to Paris, France several times to study painting, but when he came home from his third trip, he decided that his subjects would be “my neighbors in Cedar Rapids, their clothes, their homes, the patterns on their tablecloths and curtains, the tools they use. I suddenly saw all this commonplace stuff as material for art. Wonderful material!” Wood’s paintings depict an idealized image of the midwest that was seen as part of the national character and American identity during the Great Depression. In 1930, his painting American Gothic made him one of the most famous artists in the country. This Whitney Kids activity guide is designed to introduce you to Wood’s art, and we hope it will inspire the artist in you too! Use this guide to explore the exhibition and experiment with your own ideas. While you’re here, don’t miss Zoe Leonard’s work, also on view on Floor 5! Join Us Check out our lineup of tours, drop-in programs, artmaking workshops, and artist-led programs at whitney.org/Families. Create an unusual plant of your own. Draw unexpected shapes for the leaves and flowers, include one of STRANGE the objects that Wood used, or add other everyday PLANTS objects. Lilies of the Alley, 1925 Using found materials such as bottle caps, gears, and clothespins, Wood created these unusual potted plants, which he gave to friends. What additional everyday objects can you find in these flowers? The title of this sculpture and three others like it plays on the name of a real plant, “lily of the valley.” It is also a pun on his own home and studio address, where he made these plants—5 Turner Alley. Draw what you might see beyond the edges of this SCENIC VIEW painting. Use the artwork in the drawing box for clues. Van Antwerp Place, 1922–23 Wood visited Paris three times from 1920 to 1928 to study the work of the French Impressionist artists. He used loose brushwork like theirs to paint what he later called “Europy-looking” subjects. Look closely at this painting. Notice the light and shadows. What is your eye drawn to? Draw a portrait of the people who you imagine might AMERICAN live in this house today. What would they be wearing? PORTRAIT What objects would they hold? American Gothic, 1930 In 1930, on a visit to the city of Eldon in southwest Iowa, Wood saw a simple frame house with a large upstairs window that mimicked the tall, pointed windows on medieval Gothic cathedrals. Wood painted the house, placing a farmer and his daughter in the foreground. The artist’s sister and his dentist were the models! He said: “I imagined American Gothic people with their faces stretched out long to go with this American Gothic house.” Draw your own story about something naughty TELL THE TALE that you’ve done. Did you tell your parents. .or not?! Parson Weems’ Fable, 1939 Have you heard the story about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree when he was a boy? This painting shows Washington confessing to his father. Wood portrayed the storyteller on the right, lifting a curtain to reveal the scene. Look closely at this painting. Do you notice anything weird about young Washington’s head? Imagine you are riding the horse through this town at LEGENDARY night. Write a few words that describe your ride. RIDE Arrange your words to create a short poem. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931 In this painting, Wood depicted the legend of Paul Revere, riding a horse through a town square in Massachusetts in 1775 to warn the Americans of a British invasion. Wood borrowed a child’s rocking horse to use as a model for Revere’s horse. Notice how the viewpoint from above and the eerie light create a dreamlike atmosphere. How would you describe the mood of this painting? Draw or write what you think this boy might be thinking INSPIRATION about while he is milking the cow. Boy Milking Cow, 1932 This painting and the two nearby are from a series of seven farm murals called the Fruits of Iowa. The murals were commissioned by Eugene C. Eppley for a coffee shop at his hotel in Cedar Rapids. Wood once said that “all the really good ideas I’d ever had come to me while I was milking a cow.” Wood probably didn’t milk any cows, but he meant that he found inspiration in what he saw around him in Iowa. Where do you find inspiration? Draw two patterns, two shapes, and two other details VISUAL that catch your eye in this painting. WORKOUT Stone City, 1930 Wood painted this aerial view of Stone City in northeastern Iowa using stylized shapes and patterns that give all parts of the composition equal weight. How do your eyes move around this painting? What do you see first? The fields, hills, or plants? The bridge? The buildings? What do you notice next? Take a close look at this frieze. Can you find what Wood IMAGINARY described as: Mountains with snow-capped peaks PLACES Fantastical tropical plants A sea bluer than the Mediterranean A glistening white castle Brilliantly colored trees Draw your own imaginary isle! Imagination Isles, 1924–25 When Wood was an art teacher at McKinley Junior High School in Cedar Rapids from 1922 to 1925, he designed a frieze—a long, narrow artwork—for his ninth-grade students to paint. When the painting was finished, the class presented it in a theatrical performance, unrolling it across the stage as a student read a script that Wood had written, celebrating the dreamlike imagination of childhood. The frieze was installed in the school cafeteria. KEEP DRAWING! CREDITS Look out a Museum window and draw what you see. How is your view different from where Wood lived and worked? All artworks are by Grant Wood. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931. Oil on composition board, 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm). Lilies of the Alley, 1925. Earthenware flowerpot The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and found objects, 12 x 6 x 10 1⁄2 in. (30.5 x 15.2 x Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950. © Figge Art 26.7 cm). Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Iowa; gift Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood of Harriet Y. and John B. Turner II. 72.12.38. © Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Image Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, courtesy Art Resource, NY NY. Photograph © 2017 Mark Tade Boy Milking Cow, 1932. Oil on canvas, cut out Van Antwerp Place, 1922–23. Oil on composition and mounted on fiberboard, 71 1⁄4 x 63 1⁄4 in. board, 12 1⁄4 x 14 1⁄8 in. (31.1 x 35.9 cm). Cedar Rapids (181 x 160.7 cm) framed. Coe College, Permanent Museum of Art, Iowa; gift of Harriet Y. and John B. Art Collection, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; gift of the Turner II 72.12.78. © Figge Art Museum, Eugene C. Eppley Foundation. © Figge Art successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/ Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photograph by Mark Tade, 2005 American Gothic, 1930. Oil on composition board, 30 3⁄4 x 25 3⁄4 in. (78 x 65.3 cm). Art Institute Stone City, 1930. Oil on wood, 30 1⁄4 x 40 in. (76.8 x of Chicago; Friends of American Art Collection 101.6 cm). Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska; 1930.934. © Figge Art Museum, successors to the gift of the Art Institute of Omaha 1930.35. © Figge Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan New York, NY. Photograph courtesy Art Institute Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY of Chicago/Art Resource, NY Detail of Imagination Isles, 1924–25. Oil on canvas, Parson Weems’ Fable, 1939. Oil on canvas, 12 x 338 in. (30.5 x 858.5 cm). Cedar Rapids 38 3⁄8 x 50 1⁄8 in. (97.5 x 127.3 cm). Amon Carter Community School District, Iowa; on loan to the Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Iowa 1970.43. © Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Major support for Education Programs is provided by the Major support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, the William and the Barbara Haskell American Fellows Legacy Fund. Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, the Dalio Foundation, Krystyna O. Doerfler, The Pierre & Significant support is provided by The Brown Foundation, Tana Matisse Foundation, The Paul & Karen Levy Family Inc., of Houston; The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation, Steven Tisch, and Laurie M. Tisch. Foundation for the Arts; and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership Significant support is provided by Lise and Michael Evans, with the City Council. Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Barry and Mimi Sternlicht, the Yurman Family Foundation, and Burton P. and Judith B. Generous support is provided by John and Mary Resnick. Pappajohn and the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc. Additional support is provided by Barker Welfare Foundation, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the Whitney’s Education Committee.
Recommended publications
  • Grant Wood's Lithographs: a Regionalist Vision Set in Stone

    Grant Wood's Lithographs: a Regionalist Vision Set in Stone

    HMA Wood catalogue 9-2015.6.qxp_Layout 1 9/9/15 3:34 PM Page 1 Grant Wood’s Lithographs: A Regionalist Vision Set in Stone September 14 through November 8, 2015 Opening Reception Monday, September 14, 2015, 7–9 p.m. Nobel Conference Reception Tuesday, October 6, 2015, 6–8 p.m. Hillstrom Museum of Art HMA Wood catalogue 9-2015.6.qxp_Layout 1 9/9/15 3:34 PM Page 2 DIRECTOR’S NOTES Grant Wood’s Lithographs: A Regionalist Vision Set in Stone September 14 through November 8, 2015 Hillstrom Museum of Art he Hillstrom Museum of Art’s complete set of examples of all nineteen of the lithographs made by famed Regionalist artist Grant Wood (1891–1942) is the result of the generosity of Museum namesake, the late Richard L. T Hillstrom and, especially, Dr. David and Kathryn Gilbertson. All but one of the prints were donated by them, including three from Hillstrom alone, four from him and the Gilbertsons together, and the remaining eleven from the Gilbertsons alone. This exhibition, which is the first time these works are being shown as a group, is presented in memory of Hillstrom and in honor of the Gilbertsons. Wood’s lithos were created in the last half decade of his life and they were the locus of much of his artistic efforts in that period, when he painted only a handful of pictures and spent a great deal of time lecturing. As a group, the prints constitute around one fourth of the artist’s mature body of work.
  • Willkommen Im American Gothic House Center!

    Willkommen Im American Gothic House Center!

    Willkommen im American Gothic House Center! American Gothic wurde von dem gebürtig aus Iowa stammenden Künstler Grant Wood gemalt. Er kam 1930 nach Iowa, um bei einer Kunstausstellung mitzumachen, die sein Freund veranstaltete. Während seines Besuchs traf er einen jungen Künstler aus Eldon namens John Sharp. John bot Grant Wood eines Tages nach dem Mittagessen eine Rundfahrt durch die Stadt an. Er hoffte, dass er etwas sehen würde, das ihn zum Malen reizen würde. Sie fuhren durch die Stadt und an dem jetzt berühmten Haus vorbei. Als Grant Wood das Haus sah, wusste er, dass er es in ein Gemälde einbeziehen musste. Ein solch extravagantes Fenster in so einem kleinen, einfachen Haus amüsierte ihn. Wood fertigte auf der Rückseite eines Briefumschlages eine Skizze an und nahm sie mit nach Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wo er den Großteil seines Lebens wohnte. Er fragte seine Schwester, Nan Wood Graham, und seinen Zahnarzt, Dr. Byron McKeeby, ob sie ihm für sein Gemälde Modell stehen würden. Keiner der beiden dachte, dass sie in einem Gemälde sein wollten, aber Grant Wood versprach ihnen, dass er sie auf seinem Gemälde nicht zu erkennen sein würden. Wie man auf diesem Foto aus dem Jahr 1942, zwölf Jahre nachdem das Bild gemalt wurde, unschwer sehen kann, sind beide auf dem Gemälde sehr gut erkennbar, insbesondere Dr. McKeeby. Dr. McKeeby war so wütend über das Gemälde, dass er und Grant Wood zehn Jahre nach Fertigstellung des Gemäldes nicht miteinander redeten. 1 Trotz seiner Probleme mit Dr. McKeeby nahm Grant Wood mit dem 1930 vollendeten Gemälde an einem Kunstwettbewerb am Art Institut in Chicago teil.
  • The Italian Renaissance in American Gothic: Grant Wood and Piero Della

    The Italian Renaissance in American Gothic: Grant Wood and Piero Della

    The Italian Renaissance in American Gothic Grant Wood and Piero della Francesca Luciano Cheles Grant Wood spent three months in Munich, Germany, from September to December 1928, to supervise the execution of the stained-glass window he had designed for the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (fig. 1). He had been to Europe before. He first traveled there, with his lifelong friend and fellow artist Marvin Cone, in the summer of 1920. They sailed to Liverpool, then, after a brief stay in London, they traveled to Paris, which was the principal destination of their trip; from there they paid a short visit to Antwerp.1 Wood returned to Paris in June 1923 for a more extended period, during which he attended courses at the Académie Julian but spent some of the winter in Italy. He went to the French capital again in 1926 to attend an exhibition of his work. Until the late 1920s Wood’s paintings were characterized by the retardataire impressionist style common in America in those years. Then his approach changed radi- cally. His forms became more stylized, precisely contoured, and carefully arranged with figures depicted at half length close to the picture plane, sometimes set in a landscape; he also developed a taste for brightly colored patterns. Wood attributed this transformation to the “Gothic” paintings he had seen during his stay in Germany, and in particular to the work of Hans Memling, an artist he had “studied assiduously” for many years. He also explained that “the lovely apparel and accessories of the Gothic period” made him realize that “in the very commonplace, in [his] native surroundings, were decorative adventures.” The early Flemish and German art he saw in Munich allegedly precipitated his decision to distance himself from the modernist movements that had initially drawn him to Europe and to seek inspiration from his native Iowa.
  • Regionalism (1930-1940) Grant Wood

    Regionalism (1930-1940) Grant Wood

    Regionalism (1930-1940) Andrew Wyeth- American 1917-2009 Realist Christina's World • His wife was the primary model • Inspired by Anna Olsen ○ Had polio • Realist tempera • Considered a magic realist painting • "was limited physically but by no means spiritually" • Bicycle and leaning ladder in background • “like a crab on a New England seashore” • Fifth floor of MoMa The Helga Pictures • Over 240 paintings of German Helga Testorf • Braided • "Overflow" • "Lovers" Public Sale • One of his first tempera paintings Winter Fields • Dead crow found at Chaddes Ford Flood Plain • Hay, remnants of wagon, icy wheel tracks Winter 1946 • Boy runs down hill that Wyeth's father died on Wind from the Sea • Attic window Trodden Weed • Leather boots Up in the Studio • Curly haired sister looking out window Night Sleeper • Dog sleeping on tan and blue sack Eveining at Kuerners • White farmhouse Young America • Blue and white feather over man riding bike "I paint my life" Grant Wood- American 1891-1942 American Gothic • Sister Nan Wood Graham and dentist Dr. Byron McKeeby modeled • Woman wears cameo brooch • Mother-in-law's tongue • Dibble House in background • Won $300 in Art Institute of Chicago competition Woman with Plants Birthplace of Herbert Hoover, West Branch, Iowa Daughters of Revolution • Protested against for using German glass for a WWI memorial painting • Commissioned to create stained glass window in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum • Satire Parson Weem's Fable • Washington cutting down cherry tree • Father looks cross • Parson holding back
  • Seeds of Agribusiness: Grant Wood and the Visual Culture of Grain Farming, 1862-1957

    Seeds of Agribusiness: Grant Wood and the Visual Culture of Grain Farming, 1862-1957

    SEEDS OF AGRIBUSINESS: GRANT WOOD AND THE VISUAL CULTURE OF GRAIN FARMING, 1862-1957 by Travis Earl Nygard BA, Gustavus Adolphus College, 2002 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 2005 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2009 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Travis Earl Nygard It was defended on December 4, 2009 and approved by Dr. Barbara McCloskey, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture Dr. Christopher Drew Armstrong, Assistant Professor, History of Art and Architecture Dr. Ronald J. Zboray, Professor, Communication Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Kirk Savage, Professor, History of Art and Architecture ii Copyright © by Travis Nygard 2009 iii SEEDS OF AGRIBUSINESS: GRANT WOOD AND THE VISUAL CULTURE OF GRAIN FARMING, 1862-1957 Travis Earl Nygard, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2009 This dissertation uses selected works of Grant Wood’s art as a touchtone to investigate a broader visual culture surrounding agriculture in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By doing so I argue that Wood engaged with pressing social questions, including the phenomenon now referred to as agribusiness. Although agribusiness is often associated with the Green Revolution of the 1940s and 1950s, its beginning dates to the nineteenth century. Indeed, Wood’s lifetime was an era when land was consolidated, production and distribution were vertically integrated, and breeding became scientifically informed. To access the power dynamics of this transition, I begin each chapter with work by Wood, and then analyze it in conjunction with imagery produced by or for individuals with diverse cultural agendas.
  • Aic Paintings Specialty Group Postprints

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    19 9 7 AIC PAINTINGS SPECIALTY GROUP POSTPRINTS Papers Presented at the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works San Diego, California June 13-14, 1997 Compiled by Robert G. Proctor The 1997 AIC Paintings Specialty Group Post-Prints is published by the Paintings Specialty Group (PSG) of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). These papers have not been edited and are published as received from the authors. Responsibility for the methods and/or materials described herein rests solely with the contributors. These should not be considered official statements of the Paintings Specialty Group or of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. The Paintings Specialty Group is an approved division of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works but does not necessarily represent AIC policies or opinions. The 1997 AIC Paintings Specialty Group Post-Prints is distributed to members of the Paintings Specialty Group as of 1996. Additional copies may be purchased from the AIC, 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20006. TABLE OF CONTENTS Karen French 1 A Method for X-Raying Oversized Paintings with Multi-plate Exposures Lance Mayer and Gay Myers 11 American Painters and "Old Master" Recipes: 1920s to 1940s Antoni Mathias, Chris Stavroudis and Aneta Zebala 12 The Design, Construction and Use of an Inexpensive, Multipurpose, Heated Suction Table Alina Remba, Pilar Sedano Espin and Rocio Bruquetas Galdn 19 Loss Compensation in Spain: Criteria for Paintings and Polychromed Sculpture Elizabeth Mention 32 A Case Study of Orazio GentileschVs Madonna and Child: A Victim of Revolution Jay Krueger 43 Considerations in the Treatment of Jackson Pollock's Number 7.