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Which Came First, the People or the House?

In 1930, artist Grant Wood painted a portrait of two people in front of a house and named it American Gothic. He entered his new painting into a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Where the judges did not see Wood’s interpretation but instead interpreted it as a “comic valentine”. However, a patron at the museum liked American gothic so much that he insisted to the judges give it some form of an award in the contest. This patron helped Wood receive the bronze medal which included a $300 prize. After the prize was awarded the patron still felt so passionate about Wood’s painting that he convinced the Art Institute of Chicago to purchase the painting. The original version of American Gothic still remains at the Institute today. People rejected the painting when it was first put on display because they felt that it gave a demining image to Iowa citizens. The two people in the painting were not fond of American Gothic being in the public eye, they were both embarrassed. Although this painting received such bad reviews in the beginning of its time it has grown to be one of the most famous paintings in America.

American Gothic has many intriguing aspects that have given it the reputation it has today. In the foreground of the paining there are two people, a man and a woman. The man is tall and slender. He looks straight toward the viewer while holding a pitchfork that is used for farming. He is wearing jean overalls with a striped button up shirt underneath. There is no collar to his shirt though the top looks like an ordinary t-shirt. His overalls have a subtle stitching in the center of the chest where the pockets are that looks just like the pitchfork he is holding in his hand. Covering these clothes is a black jacket that looks like it could a sports jacket. The man’s face is slender and he is well into the balding process. His silver framed glasses sit on his nose so that they perfectly outline the circles of his eyes. The woman to the left of him is faced forward but looking at something off in the distance towards the direction of the man, she appears to be worried about whatever she is looking at. Her face is long; she has sandy blond hair pulled back neatly that frames her face. She is wearing a maroon dress with white circle accents that reminds me of patterned wallpaper. The dress also has fringes on the edges of the neck line and the shoulders. There is a pin of some sort that divides the collared shirt and the black sweater that the woman is wearing underneath her dress. The woman gives off a housewife kind of feeling. Both the man and the woman have something mysterious, there is something unusual about them. Their overall body language is unlike a normal person. Also, their faces have strange looks to them. The looks that both the man and the woman have in their eyes have a combination of worrisome, wickedness, and strangeness. Directly behind the man and woman there is a white house which I am assuming is where they live. It is a small quaint house with a porch and a few windows. The man and the woman are standing in front of the side of the house. The painter for some reason does not let the viewer see anything inside the house; all of the windows are covered with blinds. The second story of the house resembles a church with the peaked window and triangle shaped roof. To the right, behind the house is a typical red barn. The trees behind the house and the barn are round and surreal with almost perfectly round shapes. The sky is clear with not a cloud in sight paired with a perfect blue sky. There seems to be a tint of dirt covering the painting that is most noticeable in the sky. This could be a glaze that the artist intentionally put on the painting or it could be something else that was unintentional by the artist such as the natural ware and tear that happens when something gets older.

Many questions are to be asked about American Gothic’s deeper meaning. First off, who are the man and woman in this painting and how do they know each other? Were all of these things observed put in American Gothic for a reason? And why is it titled American Gothic? The famous gothic era was in Europe and looked little like the structures in this painting, not enough for Wood to name the painting after the Era. There was no designated gothic era in America. Why did Wood choose the house in the painting? And what is the woman staring at off into the distance? Is this thing or person that she is staring at bad?

Why this painting titled American Gothic?

The Gothic era was not in America; as I stated earlier it was in Europe. This era had much to do with the structure and architecture of cathedrals. These cathedrals were all made with pinnacles which are little towers on the side of the main structure. Cathedrals also include structures such as flying buttress’ which resemble bridges that tie the main building to the pinnacles. Wood did not place a Gothic designed cathedral in the background. Instead there is a white house with a barn located on green land with many trees. The house in the painting does not have flying buttress’ or pinnacles. There are so many traditional structures that are included in cathedrals that are not even hinted in the house. The structures of the house did not exhibit gothic style architecture except for one, the gothic styled window with the peaked point. The people in American gothic do not resemble the members of the Eastern Germanic Tribe that were often referred to as Goths. This Eastern Germanic Tribe lived in what is now the country of Sweden. After researching the gothic era the only thing that I found supporting any reasoning of giving the painting the title American Gothic is that the one window on the house is a gothic style window. Wood may have had other reasoning’s for doing this such as making the faces a certain way that to him represented gothic. When American Gothic was painted in the 1930’s the Great depression had just started. Therefore the facial expressions of the characters could likely be a reflection of what was going on in an average Americans life during that time.

Why this house?

It could have been any house but Wood made a rhetorical decision about this specific one. He went on a hunt for inspiration with his friend one afternoon and did not know what he was going to be getting out of that day. They went by the famous house and Wood did not initially think it was beautiful. Wood thought that the white house he had found was "structural absurdity, to put a Gothic-style window in such a flimsy frame house" (Wood). After sitting on the thought of the house it started to grow on him until he thought it was so beautiful and intriguing that he wanted to include it in his painting. The inspiration grew from there.

What’s in the details?

All of those details that we glance over at first but the more we stare the more we notice them; Wood put those details in intentionally. The pitchfork for example is a symbol of hard labor work which could also connect to why the painting is titled American Gothic because it was the typical American life at that time. Wood intentionally did something that a casual viewer would have never expected. He based the entire painting on the white house. He found this house in Iowa and felt so strongly about the image in his head that he had to specifically pick people with faces and body language that fulfilled that idea of who would live in the white house. The broach that the woman was wearing could have also meant that the family was in a higher social class because they could afford such things. Lastly, if looking closely the viewer cannot see inside the house. Wood obviously did not do this out of laziness because the rest of the painting is done with such detail. Was that their way of keeping the house cooler during a hot day? Or was there something inside the house that they did not want anyone to see? I believe that it is a more logical approach to think that they were simply trying to keep the house cool. However, it would be more exciting to think that there is something mysterious going on in there. Everything was intentional in his painting.

Who are the man and woman?

The man in American Gothic is based off of Dr. Byron McKeeby, Wood’s Dentist. He felt that his dentist had a look that could complete the image he was trying to create for the idea he had engraved in his head of the people he thought would live in this white house. Wood felt that for the woman role of this painting his sister, Nan, could fulfill that same image he was striving for. They obviously knew each other and it was a good rhetoric decision to make such a large age gap between them to show the father and daughter relationship that Wood wanted in the painting. Once again this shows that Wood specifically picked out who he wanted in his painting because of who he thought would live in the house. People may find it surprising that Wood did not focus the painting on the people because they are consume majority of the frame. My research ultimately proves that he based the painting around the house and not the people.

What was the woman was staring at?

I researched this question for hours and could not find an answer. This question is still a mystery to me. Based off of past knowledge I can predict that the woman was staring with worry at the crops that provided their family with an income. In the 1930’s when this painting was created the Great Depression had just started which means that everyone was struggling to continue to financially support their loved ones. The woman very likely could be staring at the crops in worry of how they are going to make their living this year. Hopefully one day I can go to Iowa and find out exactly what the woman stared at. Based on my prediction of what the woman is staring at this would be a detrimental thing to their lives. This can affect them financially which as many American’s are learning today has a ripple effect on a wide spectrum of things in our lives.

American gothic is a classic piece of art that is full of so many different interpretations. I found it particularly difficult to find the artist of the painting opinion about what rhetoric decisions he made to create this image. The research that I was finding was other’s opinions about the art work. From the research that I did find, Wood wanted the viewer to look past the initial appearance of the painting and find something deeper. This image is not just a farming couple that gives the viewer a weird feeling when looking at them. Interpret this image how you wish but my analysis is the facts of what Wood intended his audience to see.

analysis

Which Came First, the People or the House?
An artist has conscious and sub-conscious reasons for creating the artwork that they do. As the famous saying goes; ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. A piece of art can be interpreted differently by everyone both positively and negatively. Everyone has the capability to be a critic; critics look at things in a much more detailed spectrum and have credibility in the public eye. There are constant critiques that are made about artwork that can make artists famous. The critiques analyze things within the piece of art that the artist may not even intend to have a meaning. Sometimes both have similar ideas as to what the deeper meaning of the artwork is.
The painting titled “American Gothic” was painted by a man named Grant Wood in 1930. In the foreground of the paining there are two people, a man and a woman. The man is tall and slender. He looks straight toward the viewer while holding a pitchfork that appears to be used for farming. He is wearing jean overalls with a striped button up shirt underneath. His overalls have a subtle stitching in the center of the chest in his overalls that looks just like the pitchfork he is holding in his hand. There is no collar to his shirt though the top looks like an ordinary t-shirt. Covering these clothes is a black jacket that looks like it could be some form of a sports jacket. His face is long and he has very little hair. His glasses outline his eyes which have something behind them that is left to be interpreted by the viewer. The woman to the left of him is faced forward but looking at something off in the distance towards the direction of the man, she appears to be worried about whatever she is looking at. Her face is long; she has sandy blond hair pulled back neatly that frames her face. She is wearing a maroon dress with white circle accents that reminds me of patterned wallpaper. The dress also has fringes on the edges. There is a pin of some sort that divides the collared shirt and the black sweater that she is wearing under her dress. The woman gives off a housewife kind of feeling. Both the man and the woman have something mysterious, there is something different about them. Their body language is unlike a normal person. Also, their faces have strange looks to them. The looks that are in their eyes have a sense of evil. There is a white house directly behind the man and the woman which I am assuming is where they live. It is a small quaint house with a porch and a few windows. The man and the woman are standing in front of the side of the house. The painter for some reason does not let the viewer see anything inside the house, all of the windows are covered with blinds. The second story of the house resembles a church with the peaked window and triangle shaped roof. To the right, behind the house is a typical red barn. The trees behind the house and the barn are round and surreal with almost perfectly round shapes. The sky is clear with not a cloud in sight and the perfect sky blue. There seems to be a tint of dirt covering the painting that is most noticeable in the sky. This could be a glaze that the artist intentionally put on the painting or it could be something else that was unintentional by the artist.
As I was observing the painting some questions were going through my head such as; So many questions are to be asked about the deeper meaning. First off, who is the man and woman in this painting and how do they know each other? Were all of these things observed put in American Gothic for a reason? And why is it titled “American Gothic”? There was no designated gothic era in America. And the famous gothic era was in Europe and looked nothing like the structures in this painting. Why did Wood choose the house in the painting? Another question I had when observing American gothic was; what is the woman staring at off into the distance? Is this thing or person that she is staring at bad?
I decided to find the answers to my questions. First, I wanted to discover why this painting was given the title “American gothic”. The gothic era was not in America as I stated earlier, it was in Europe. This era had much to do with the structure and architecture of classic cathedrals. These cathedrals were all made the same with pinnacles which are little towers on the side of the main structure. They also include the bridges that tie the main building to the pinnacles called, flying buttress which the house does not have either. There are so many traditional structures that are included in cathedrals that are not even hinted in the house. All structures except for one, the gothic styled window with the peaked point. There was not a Gothic designed cathedral in the background it is a white house with a barn located on green land with many trees, nor do the people in American gothic resemble the members of the eastern Germanic tribe called Goths. They lived in what is now the country of Sweden. After researching this question the only thing that I found that supports any reasoning of giving the painting the title is that the one window on the house is a gothic style window. Wood may have had other reasoning’s for doing this such as making the faces a certain way that to him represented gothic. When American Gothic was painted in the 1930’s the Great depression had just started. Therefore the facial expressions of the characters could likely be a reflection of what was going on in an average Americans life during that time.
Why this house? It could have been any house but Wood made a rhetoric decision about this specific one. Wood went on a hunt for inspiration with his friend one afternoon and did not know what he was going to be getting out of that day. They went by the famous house and Wood did not initially think it was beautiful. He "thought it a form of borrowed pretentiousness, a structural absurdity, to put a Gothic-style window in such a flimsy frame house." After sitting on the thought of the house it started to grow on him until he thought it was so beautiful and intriguing that he wanted to include it in his painting. The inspiration grew from there.
Next I wanted to think about the subtle details that I noticed, for example the stitching in the overalls were intentional. Not to my surprise, they were. Also, the pitchfork is a symbol of hard work. Wood intentionally did something that a casual viewer would have never expected. He based the entire painting on the white house. He found this house in Iowa and felt so strongly about the image in his head that he had to specifically pick people that fulfilled that idea of who would live in the house. After he got the idea of the house Wood painted the people to look like people whom he thought would live in it. Everything was intentional in his painting.
So who are these two people Wood used to create the people in his painting? Turns out that the man is based off of Dr. Byron McKeeby, Wood’s Dentist. He felt that his dentist had a look that could complete the image he was trying to create for the people he thought would live in the house. Wood also felt that his sister, Nan, could fulfill that same image he was striving for as the woman in the image. They obviously knew each other and it was a good rhetoric decision to make such a large age gap between them to show the father and daughter relationship Wood wanted in the painting. Once again this shows that Wood specifically picked out who he wanted in his painting because of who he thought would live in the house. People may find it surprising that Wood did not focus the painting on the people who take up majority of the frame. My research ultimately proves that he based the painting around the house and not the people.

I am still pondering what the woman was staring at. I researched this question for hours and could not find an answer. I found many lesson plans for teacher in Iowa that take their classes there for a field trip so that they can see where this famous painting was originated from. They tell their class to stand in the spot that they were in and see what they might have been looking at. None of them actually said what was out there. Unfortunately, I cannot participate in that class activity because I am not in Iowa. This question is still a mystery to me. Hopefully one day I can go to Iowa and find out what she may have been looking at. Not being able to find the answer to this question ties into my next question asking if what the woman is staring at is bad. Once I visit Iowa I will be able to observe whether it could have been something bad. Until then I can only predict.
American gothic is a classic piece of art that is full of so many different interpretations. I found it particularly difficult to find the artist of the painting, Wood’s, opinion about what rhetoric decisions he made to create this image. The research that kept coming up was other’s opinions about the art work. From the research that I found, Wood wanted the viewer to look past the initial appearance of the painting and find something deeper. This image is not just a farming country couple that gives the viewer a weird feeling when looking at them. Interpret this image how you want but my analysis is the facts of what Wood intended for the audiences to see.

I'm not really sure what direction I want to go for my paper. I looked at all forms of media (photographs, paintings, and ads) and narrowed it down to the ones I posted. I still need to decide which image I'm going to use, but I feel I am well on my way to figuring out what I want to do.

About me

I'm Sara Walborn, I am a student at Ohio University studying Exercise Physiology. I created this blog in my English 151 class. Our teacher would admit that we are the best class!