15. American Gothic
Iowa native Grant Wood painted American Gothic in 1930. Though trained in Europe, Wood became famous for his paintings of Midwestern life, mainly focusing on the rural Midwest. While looking for inspiration, Wood had a fellow young painter drive him around the town of Eldon, a small village in rural southwest Iowa. It was there that he found the Dibble House, a small Carpenter Gothic style house that is now known as the American Gothic house due to its appearance in the painting.
The absurdity of gothic architecture struck Wood in a particular way. He found a small, flimsily built farmhouse in rural Iowa and he asked permission of the family to sketch and paint their home. He decided he wanted to include foreground figures of people who looked like they should live in such an absurd house.
For models, Wood stuck with the familiar and wished to paint his mother for the female figure. However, he knew standing for such a long time would be too much for her, so he asked his sister, Nan Wood, to model in their mother’s clothing and jewelry. For the male figure, he asked his own dentist to stand in as the model.