American Gothic - Grant WoodI know this is really sad, but I feel the need to clear up something from last lesson. When Mr F put on the board a handful of pictures that we had to explain why they were Gothic, he put up the painting called American Gothic by Grant Wood (above). Just to clear it up, this isn't actually a typical Gothic painting. It was painted in 1942, Wood was captivated by the simple Gothic-style house (in the background of the painting) in a town he visited called Iowa. He actually used his sister and his dentist as the subjects. He made this painting as a homage to-down to-earth Puritan dignity, found in small town America. Wood was actually part of the artistic movement of Regionalism (a form of realism common in North America). He derived similar techniques (such as his crisp, firmly delineated and precisely modelled style)from the Gothic and early Renaissance masters he studied during the 1920's. Therefore, this painting is not considered 'Gothic'. If you look at Gothic painters, e.g Gentile da Fabriano or Gaddi their style focus's on vibrant colour, attention to detail and often very religious subjects.
So guys, I'm really sorry for being pedantic and whatnot, but I just had to have a say. So if you have a look at the real Gothic paintings from the middle-ages and compare it to today's idea of Gothic, it's very different.
