Episode 54: Grant Wood's American Gothic (1930)
“I had to go to France to appreciate Iowa”
A man. A woman. A window. A pitchfork. It’s the most seemingly straightforward double portrait to come out of rural America, and certainly the most famous, yet it’s become synonymous with ambiguity and mystery, parody and polarization. Amazing how hungry we are to turn a portrait of an artist’s hometown spirit into a portrait of a larger American cultural moment, both then and now.
Images Referenced:
Music Used:
Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”
The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"
The Blue Dot Sessions, “Long and Low Cloud,” “Hakodate Line,” “Cornicob,” “Sylvestor,” “Di Breun,” “The Silver Hatch,” “Speaker Joy”
Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees"
Tamar Avishai