American Gothic

Grant Wood’s American Gothic shows a stern Midwestern farmer and his daughter standing before a Carpenter Gothic house in Eldon, Iowa. The figures were modeled after Wood’s sister, Nan Wood Graham, and the family dentist, Byron McKeeby. Painted in 1930, it became one of the most recognizable works in American art and has been widely parodied and reinterpreted.

Grant Wood entered the painting in the Art Institute of Chicago’s annual competition in 1930. It was awarded a bronze medal and a $300 prize. That same year, the Art Institute purchased the painting and has since retained it in its permanent collection.