Did You Know...?
The models never stood in front of the house; Wood painted the house first and then painted in the people later.
Grant Wood is considered the patron artist of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
One of Grant Wood's designs appears on the Iowa state quarter.
The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art has the largest collection of Grant Wood artwork.
"American Gothic," however, hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Wood's sister, Nan, was embarrassed to be considered the wife of a man twice her age in the work. She decided to spread around the notion that the woman in the painting is the man's daughter instead.
"American Gothic" was painted on beaverboard, a type of wood used for walls and partitions.
