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Eldon in Wapello County, Iowa — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
 

Grant Wood's Impact

 
 
Grant Wood's Impact Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 11, 2015
1. Grant Wood's Impact Marker
Inscription.

Through his innovative artistic style, Grant Wood's work is known and appreciated throughout the world. He will forever be credited as the artist who celebrated the land and people of Iowa.

Place in Regionalism
By the early 1930s Wood's new painting style prompted the creation of the Regionalist art movement. Wood and his contemporaries, which included other midwestern artists such as John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton, felt that artists should be freed to paint about the people and places they knew best. Wood felt that art should be made for everyone, and he especially pushed for America to have its own artistic identity - not imported from Europe.

Teaching Art to Others
Wood promoted Regionalism by assisting in developing the Stone City Art Colony, which operated in the summers of 1932 and 1933. This program aimed to train new artists in their "backyard", instead of having to travel to Europe to study. Wood and the other instructors were a huge inspiration for students who attended the Colony.

Wood was also an Associate Professor in Art at the University of Iowa. In the first year after his appointment the art department increased from 550 to 750 students. At the same time Wood was asked to teach at Iowa, he was recruited as Iowa director of the Public Works Art Project,

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where he oversaw several projects including the murals at the new library at the Iowa State University in Ames.

[Photo captions read]
John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood at the Stone City Art Colony, July, 1933. Photograph by John W. Barry Jr.
Courtesy of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.

Stone City Art Colony Group painting and sketching outdoors, ca. 1932-33. Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. John W. Barry. Photographer John W. Barry. 89.2.12.

Make Your Own American Gothic Parody!
American Gothic is the second most parodied painting in the world (The Mona Lisa is first). You can make your own parody!

Costumes, glasses, AND hay forks are available to borrow in the American Gothic House Center! When open, Center staff and volunteers are happy to help you take pictures.

How to pose: Stand in the concrete circle just to the side of the window's center beam, where the Xs are shown in the diagram.

For a photograph of two: Frame your image vertically. Adjust the height of your camera by bending lower. Be sure the couple's heads intersect the roofline of the house as in the painting.

For groups: Frame your image horizontally. For best results, be sure the window is centered above the group.

Share your pictures with the American Gothic House Center!
We love to see pictures

Marker Plaza at the American Gothic House Center image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 11, 2015
2. Marker Plaza at the American Gothic House Center
from visitors! Send us your picture and we will add it to our wall of visitor pictures!

You can e-mail your photos to
[email protected]
or mail them:
American Gothic House Center
300 American Gothic Street
Eldon, Iowa 52554

Post your photo on the American Gothic House Facebook page using this barcode! [QR code]
 
Erected by American Gothic House Center and Humanities Iowa.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical year for this entry is 1932.
 
Location. 40° 55.278′ N, 92° 12.83′ W. Marker is in Eldon, Iowa, in Wapello County. Marker is on the plaza just south of the American Gothic House, on the grounds of the American Gothic House Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 300 American Gothic Street, Eldon IA 52554, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Artist, Grant Wood (here, next to this marker); The American Gothic House (here, next to this marker); American Gothic - The Painting (here, next to this marker); Veterans Memorial (approx. half a mile away); McHaffey Opera House (approx. half a mile away); Doodlebug (approx. half a mile away); Charles M. Martin

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(approx. half a mile away); Gerald W. Fackler (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Eldon.
 
Also see . . .
1. Grant Wood. (Submitted on November 5, 2015, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
2. American Gothic House Center, Eldon, Iowa. (Submitted on November 5, 2015, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 20, 2020. It was originally submitted on November 5, 2015, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 357 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on November 5, 2015, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

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Mar. 28, 2024