Grant Wood's "American Gothic" is at the Chicago Art Institute. It appears to be a painting of a farmer and his wife. NOPE! Grant asked his dentist and sister, Nan, to model for the painting! It's 'gothic' because he used a Gothic Architectural window for the window on the farmhouse.

* Self taught artist from Cedar Rapids Iowa * Painted small town America during the depression years. * Known as the “painter in overalls.”

His farmscapes had rolling hills, fluffy trees, and country roads.

His landscapes appear still and silent.

Grant Wood used geometric shapes, ovals, circles and curves in his landscapes. The shapes were simplified and stylized.

By layering the land he created a lot of distance in his landscapes.

Grant Wood’s style of painting was called Regionalism which means the painting of American subjects specific to a region.

Grant Wood studied in Europe but came back to Iowa because “all my really good ideas came to me while milking a cow.”

Art Project Create a landscape drawing using some of Grant Wood’s techniques… Rolling hills, fluffy trees and country roads Geometric shapes: ovals, circles and curves Use layering to create distance, large trees upfront and smaller trees in the distance Have fun and be creative !