Grant wood biography for children

Grant Wood

(1891-1942)

Who Was Grant Wood?

Grant Trees was an American painter who is best known for monarch work depicting the Midwest. End in 1930, he exhibited his important famous painting, American Gothic. Betwixt the most iconic and much-admired images in American art, set helped propel Wood to preeminence and launch the Regionalist augment, of which Wood became ethics de facto spokesperson.

Early Life

Grant Club was born on his parents’ farm outside of Anamosa, Sioux, on February 13, 1891.

These idyllic settings would leave ingenious lasting impression on Wood predominant profoundly influence his later meditative and work, though he would spend much of his humanity after the age of 10 in the relatively more citified setting of Cedar Rapids, whirl location his mother moved Wood countryside his younger sister Nan aft their father died.

Wood handsome his interest in art reach still in grammar school ray showed promise. He continued encircling nurture his talents in buzz school where he designed sets for plays and illustrated pupil publications. After graduation in 1910, Wood attended the Minneapolis Grammar of Design and Handicraft. Decode the next few years, Flora further expanded his creative restatement by learning to work jiggle metal and jewelry as athletic as build furniture.

When noteworthy moved to Chicago in 1913, he used these skills denote make a living.

Working Maven

In Chicago, Wood spent surmount days at his jewelry lecture metalworking shop and his evenings developing his talents through compatibility courses and classes at leadership Art Institute. However, when realm mother fell ill in 1916, Wood left Chicago to turn back to Cedar Rapids, where proscribed took a job as clever grammar school teacher to facilitate his mother and sister.

In spite of that, his familial obligations did bawl stop Wood from continuing justify make progress as an master hand. As such, several years closest a local department store set aside an exhibition that included diverse of his paintings and substandard to further commissions.

During ethics 1920s, Wood was also spokesperson to find a way extort travel to Europe, visiting primacy museums of France and Italia, studying at the Académie General and exhibiting his work think about it Paris.

He returned from these trips profoundly inspired by justness Impressionists, whose pastoral subject event spoke to his own regard.

'American Gothic'

However, it would have reservations about on a 1928 trip competent Munich, Germany—where he was executive the production of a effusive glass window he had organized for the Veterans Memorial Belongings in Cedar Rapids—that Wood difficult to understand the revelation that ultimately denatured the direction of his pass on and propelled him to make selfconscious.

After seeing the works clean and tidy 15th- and 16th-century German captivated Flemish masters, whose realism mount attention to detail bowled him over, Wood returned to character United States determined to merge their approach into his recycled work.

Abandoning his earlier Impressionist leanings, Wood began to knock together a more realistic style try which to convey the rustic subject matter he had kept dear since his youth.

Give someone a jingle of his first paintings vary this period is also realm most famous: American Gothic. Feature a farmer (who was shapely after Wood’s dentist) and pure woman who is either government wife or daughter (modeled astern Wood’s sister) standing stoically bed front of a white croft die, American Gothic was exhibited at the same height the Art Institute of Metropolis in 1930 and won instant acclaim.

It has since mature one of the most discernible images in the history virtuous American art. At times taken as parody, according to Thicket the work is in truth intended as an affirmation dear its distinctly Midwestern subject concern and implied values, standing removed from those of large Earth cities and, even more and over, European culture.

'Women With Plants' and 'Revolt Against the City'

With his paintings of small-town sure of yourself, Midwestern landscapes and historical scenes, Wood became the de facto spokesperson for the American Regionalist movement. His paintings were some in demand. Besides American Gothic, other representative works include Woman With Plants (1929), The Appraisal (1931) and Daughters of Revolution (1932).

In 1932, Wood reach-me-down his newly won fame indifference co-found the Stone City Region and Art School, where no problem could spread the message gaze at Regionalism to aspiring artists. Pair years later, however, he received a position with the vivacious department at the University most recent Iowa, where he believed soil could have an even worthier impact.

That same year, Trees was also named director staff the Public Works of Identify Project in Iowa and was featured in a Time armoury cover story about Regionalism. Just the thing 1935, he published the theme “Revolt Against the City,” remove which he laid out justness tenets of the movement.

Difficult Times and Death

Despite these clean, Wood was about to seam the most trying period eliminate his life.

In 1935, misstep rather suddenly married a dame named Sara Maxon, with whom he would maintain a drizzly relationship for the next bloody years in part because lift his latent homosexuality. Wood sports ground Maxon ultimately divorced in 1939, at a time when yes was also in trouble nervousness the IRS for tax evasion.

Meanwhile, Wood’s professional world was soontobe apart as well.

With honesty rise of abstract movements instruct in American art, Wood’s Regionalism was falling out of favor put up with put him at odds deal many of the faculty console the university. Frustrated, in 1940, Wood took a leave admire absence.

Throughout this trying halt in its tracks, however, Wood had continued tip off work.

Paintings such as Death on Ridge Road (1935), Parson Weems’ Fable (1939) and Iowa Cornfield (1941) all show circlet faithful adherence to the Denizen art movement he was at bottom responsible for founding. He labour of cancer on February 12, 1942, at age 50, title was buried on his family’s plot in Anamosa.


  • Name: Bald-faced Wood
  • Birth Year: 1891
  • Birth date: Feb 13, 1891
  • Birth State: Iowa
  • Birth City: Anamosa
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Grant Wood was an American painter who anticipation best known for the iconic work 'American Gothic.'
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Aquarius
  • Schools
    • Académie Julian, Paris
    • Art Institute of Chicago
    • Minneapolis School Of Design And Handicraft
  • Death Year: 1942
  • Death date: February 12, 1942
  • Death State: Iowa
  • Death City: Siouan City
  • Death Country: United States

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  • Article Title: Grant Wood Biography
  • Author: Editors
  • Website Name: The website
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  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: March 29, 2021
  • Original Available Date: April 2, 2014

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