MASTERPIECE AMERICAN GOTHIC by GRANT WOOD 1930 Poster

American Gothic is a 1930 masterpiece by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood's inspiration came from what is now known as the American Gothic House, and his decision to paint the house along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house." The painting shows a farmer standing beside his spinster daughter. The figures were modelled by the artist's sister and their dentist. The woman is dressed in a colonial print apron evoking 19th-century Americana, and the couple are in the traditional roles of men and women, the man's pitchfork symbolising hard labour, and the flowers over the woman's right shoulder suggesting domesticity. It is one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art, and has been widely parodied in American popular culture. I removed an ugly colour cast and restored colour and detail adhering to the intent of the original. It is ready for optimal presentation.