Многие гении и творцы в области искусства бывают not recognized by critics and society in life. Over the years, they are beginning to understand and feel, firmly believing that the artist or poet had a special view of things. It is then that they begin to admire them, ranking them among the incredibly talented people of their era. That is exactly what happened to Wood Grant, who almost a hundred years ago portrayed his vision of the way of life of the inhabitants of the New World in the film “American Gothic”. He was quite a complex artist, with his own character and handwriting.
A couple of words about the artist's childhood
Many critics and art expertsbelieve that before analyzing the picture, especially the one that caused a huge public response, it is necessary to study the creator of the masterpiece a little. This should be done only in order to understand the motives or promise of the artist. Speaking of Wood Grant, the picture "American Gothic" which still causes controversy and certain differences among experts of the world, it is worth saying that its early years were unremarkable.
He was born on a small agriculturala farm on the very edge of Iowa, the one in America. Besides him, there were two other boys and a girl in the family. The father of the family was noted for quick temper and severity. He died quite early in life. Grant had a close and trusting relationship with his mother, perhaps because of this, he grew up very sensitive, vulnerable and the most talented of all children in the family.
Unrecognized genius
Growing up and choosing for themselves artisticpath, Grant painted a sufficient number of paintings, but his work was not assessed properly. He was not recognized in art, often without even seriously taking his work.
About the time in which the picture was painted
"American Gothic" by American artist Grant Wood was written in 1930. This time was quite difficult for several reasons:
- First, in 1929 in America beganthe economic crisis, which, by the way, did not in the least prevent the rapid steps of the state in the field of construction and industry. New, hitherto unknown high-rise buildings were erected in the country. It was a period of novelty and technology.
- Secondly, the world is as fast asand industry, has gained momentum fascism. The new trend and ideology of Adolf Hitler was strengthened in the minds of people who were striving for a perfect future.
- This list is probably worth addinga fact that concerns the artist himself. Wood Grant had already lived in France and German Munich by that time. Some critics felt that these wanderings around the world have added to the American Gothic film a lot from the European way of life.
After all of the above, you can trymake some idea of the artist, his character and life. Well, when this is done, it is worthwhile to break directly into the analysis of the painting "American Gothic".
It's all about the details
Проанализировать полотно можно только если его describe in detail. So, in the foreground are two people: a woman and a man, who apparently is much older than her. Wood Grant has repeatedly said that he tried to show his father and daughter, but it is known for certain that he portrayed his own sister and dentist Byron MacKibie. According to the artist, the latter had a rather cheerful disposition. True, in the painting "American Gothic" he appears to be a restrained person, if not to say harsh. His gaze is directed straight into the eyes of the person who is looking at the canvas, and it is impossible to understand what will happen next: whether he will smile, or get angry. His face is drawn in such detail that it is possible to disassemble every wrinkle that is abound on it.
A woman's gaze is directed sideways, somewhere outsidethe pictures. The man and his daughter are in the center, and the woman is holding the hand of an elderly person. He holds in his hands a pitchfork, with its points pointing upwards, which he holds with a strong grip. It seems as if the people depicted by Wood Grant are trying to protect their home against which they are painted.
The house is an old building inamerican style. Another nuance that is found upon detailed examination: everything in the picture is made by the hands of people: the man’s shirt, the woman’s apron, and, by the way, the attic roof.
If you pay attention to the background picture"American Gothic", it seems that Grant Wood did not pay him enough attention. Trees are presented in the form of geometric figures and they are absolutely not drawn, generalized. By the way, if you look closely, there is a lot of geometry in the picture: a triangular roof, straight lines of windows, forks, which overlap with the edging on the man’s shirt.
The tone in which the canvas is written, you cancharacterize as fairly calm. Perhaps this is all the description of the painting "American Gothic", from which it becomes clear why many Americans saw it themselves: almost all families living on the western and eastern coasts of the mainland had such houses.
Community assessment
The picture "American Gothic" has created a furor.Someone was delighted, but there were also dissatisfied. Residents of Iowa considered such a depiction of their way of life as an artist’s mockery, and one lady even threatened with physical violence against Grant Wood. She promised to bite off his ear. Many people blamed the artist for disliking everything new, calling him a conservative and a hypocrite, because he portrayed an old house on the threshold of a new civilization. The artist himself once said about his picture: "I tried to portray these people as they were for me in the life I knew ...".
Later century
Стоит отметить, что спустя время картина все еще remains at the peak of popularity. They make parodies of it, they admire it, they do not understand it. But all this did not prevent the "American Gothic" from becoming a symbol of the lifestyle of those years. After nearly a century, critics were able to consider in her the unwavering spirit of the American pioneers. Well, and the last thing to be mentioned: Grant Wood was able to "hook" a huge number of people with his masterpiece, forcing the public to discuss and argue about the film "American Gothic".
