American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood painted in 1930, it is now in the Art Institute of Chicago. When I see this portrait I see two very serious, stern people, although it was painted in 1930, it makes me think of a distant past, mainly because of the clothes the woman is wearing and the house in the back with a "carpenter gothic" window. It is not completely gloomy but the palette is mostly subdued, black and earthy tones. The man looks old, thin but strong for his age, looking straight forward holding his tool with a firm expression. The woman is not looking straight forward but she has a serious, sturdy expression. I feel the painting depicts certain strength in rural american characters, not necessarily a parody but mainly wants to show how the past prevails. It is a realistic portrait of two characters depicted in rural life, it was painted with oil on beaver board. The rigidity of the two figures and highly detailed and polished image was inspired by Flemish Renaissance art.
