The painting "American Gothic" (Wood Grant)

Many geniuses and creators in the field of art are not recognized by critics and society during their lifetime. Years later, they begin to understand and feel, firmly believing that the artist or poet had his own particular view of things. That's when they start to admire, ranking among the incredibly talented people of their era. This is exactly what happened to Wood Grant, who almost a hundred years ago depicted his vision of the way of life of the inhabitants of the New World in the film "American Gothic." He was quite a complicated artist, with his character and handwriting.

A few words about the artist's childhood

Many critics and experts in the field of art believe that before analyzing the picture, especially the one that caused a huge public response, it is necessary to study the master of the masterpiece a little. This must be done only in order to understand the motives or the message of the artist. Speaking of Wood Grant, the painting "American Gothic" which still raises controversy and certain disagreements among the experts of the world, it is worth saying that his early years were unremarkable.

He was born on a small agricultural farm in the very outskirts of Iowa, the very one in America. Besides him there were two boys and a girl in the family. The father of the family differed temperamental temper and severity. He died early enough. Grant had a close and trusting relationship with his mother, perhaps because of this he grew up very sensitive, vulnerable and the most talented of all the children in the family.

Unrecognized genius

Growing up and choosing an artistic path for himself, Grant wrote enough pictures, but his works were not properly evaluated. He was not recognized in art, often without even taking seriously his work.

About the time in which the painting was written

"American Gothic" American artist Grant Wood was written in 1930. This time was quite difficult for a number of reasons:

1. First, in 1929 in America, the economic crisis began, which, by the way, did not in the least hamper the rapid steps of the state in the field of construction and industry. In the country new, hitherto unknown high-rise buildings were erected. It was a period of novelty and technology.
2. Secondly, fascism was gaining momentum all over the world as rapidly as industry. The new ideology and ideology of Adolf Hitler was strengthened in the minds of people who aspired to a perfect future.
3. In this list, perhaps, it is worth adding a fact, which concerns the artist personally. Wood Grant by that time had already lived in France and German Munich for a sufficient amount of time. Some critics believed that these wanderings around the world added the picture "American Gothic" a lot from the European way of life.

After all of the above, you can try to make some idea of the artist, about his character and life. Well, when it will be done, it is worth to break directly into the analysis of the picture "American Gothic".

It's all about the details

You can analyze the canvas only if you describe it in detail. So, in the foreground there are two people: a woman and a man who is apparently much older than her. Wood Grant has repeatedly said that he tried to show his father and daughter, but it is for certain that he portrayed his own sister and dentist Byron McKibie. According to the artist, the latter was quite cheerful. True, in the picture "American Gothic" he appears a reserved person, if not to say harsh. His gaze is directly in the eyes of the man looking at the canvas, and it is impossible to understand what will happen next: whether he smiles, or gets angry. His face is drawn in such detail that it is possible to disassemble every wrinkle, which is abundant on it.

The woman's gaze is directed sideways, somewhere beyond the picture. The man and his daughter stand in the center, and the woman holds the elderly person under the arm. He has a fork in his hands, pointed upwards with his points, which he holds with a strong enough grip. It seems that people portrayed by Wood Grant are trying to protect their house, against which they are painted.

The house is an old building in the American style. Another nuance that is revealed at a detailed examination: in the picture everything is done by people's hands: a man's shirt, an apron of a woman, and, yes, a mansard roof.

If you pay attention to the background of the picture "American Gothic", it seems that Grant Wood did not pay him proper attention. Trees are represented in the form of geometric figures and they are not completely drawn, generalized. By the way, if you look closely, there are a lot of geometries in the picture: a triangular roof, straight lines of windows, pitchfork, which correspond with the edging on the man's shirt.

Tone, in which the canvas is written, can be described as fairly calm. Perhaps this is the whole description of the picture "American Gothic", from which it becomes clear why many Americans saw it in themselves: these houses were almost all families living on both the western and the eastern coast of the mainland.

Evaluation of society

The picture "American Gothic" made a sensation. Someone was delighted, but there were also dissatisfied. Residents of the state of Iowa considered such an image of their way of life a mockery of the artist, and one lady even threatened with physical violence over Grant Wood. She promised to bite off his ear. Many people accused the artist of being antipathic of everything new, calling him a conservative and a prude, because he painted an old house on the threshold of a new civilization. The artist himself once said about his painting: "I tried to portray these people as they were for me in the life that I knew ...".

After a century

It is worth noting that after a while the picture still remains at the peak of popularity. They make parodies of her, admire her, they do not understand her. But all this did not prevent "American Gothic" from becoming a kind of symbol of the lifestyle of those years. After nearly a century, critics were able to consider the unshakable spirit of American pioneers in it. Well, the last thing to mention: Grant Wood was able to "hook" a huge number of people with his masterpiece, forcing the public to discuss, argue about the picture "American Gothic."