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.