American Gothic
The Life of Grant Wood
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From humble beginnings sketching Iowa’s cornfields and rolling hills as a child, Grant Wood became the father of regionalism, an artistic movement that celebrated the simple and real-life surroundings of the people. When studying art in Europe in the early 20th century, Grant couldn’t find a style that touched his heart quite right. Impressionism, cubism, and abstract art didn’t reflect his view of the world. It wasn’t until he stumbled upon Gothic art that Grant recognized something familiar.
Back home in America, Grant asked his sister and his dentist to pose for what would become the founding, iconic image of regionalism and a uniquely American work of art. Grant’s art celebrated hard-working Americans who finally saw themselves in fine art. American Gothic is a picture-book biography that explores the birth of the famous painting, the movement that made it possible, and the artist who created it all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers learn the backstory behind painter Grant Wood's most famous work in an account that movingly recounts his growth as an artist. Crisp, direct narration follows Wood from his home in Iowa to Europe, where he studied impressionism, cubism, and abstract art before being drawn to the gothic art movement. MacDonald's illustrations are, as usual, a celebration of America's yesteryears, and are ideally suited to the rural, regional focus that Wood brought to his art: "The weathered people in Grant's painting were survivors," writes Wood of American Gothic, "just as Depression-era Americans hoped to be." An extensive author's note and timeline bring additional depth to an inspiring study of an artist who learned to find beauty, truth, and inspiration in the people and landscape of his home. Ages 5 7. Author's)
