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.
|Susan Wood is the author of the picture-book biography Esquivel! Space- Age Sound Artist, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh. She lives in Norfolk, Virginia.; Ross MacDonald is the award-winning illustrator of Hey Batta Batta Swing!; Another Perfect Day; and Hit the Road, Jack. His illustrations appear in Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, the Wall Street Journal, Harper's, and Rolling Stone. He lives in Connecticut, where he operates Brightwork Press.
