American Gothic by Grant Wood.
The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
This painting of a stern-visaged, tight-lipped, nineteenth-century country couple posed in front of their pristine farmhouse has become not only one of the most reproduced images in American popular culture, it has also virtually become emblematic of the moral fiber and simple virtues for which America is said to stand. Painted by Grant Wood in 1930, American Gothic has been interpreted both as homage to the artist's Midwestern roots and as slyly witty commentary on American "family values." After winning an important prize in 1930, American Gothic quickly became, as Robert Hughes notes, "Along with the Mona Lisa and Whistler's Mother … one of the three paintings that every American knows…. One index of its fame is the number of variations run on it by cartoonists, illustrators, and advertisers…. The couple in front of the house have become preppies, yuppies, hippies, Weathermen, pot growers, Ku Klux Klaners, jocks, operagoers, the Johnsons, the Reagans, the Carters, the Fords, the Nixons, the Clintons, and George Wallace with an elderly black lady." In the visual culture of the millennium, American Gothic remains the most potent and pervasive symbol of America's heartland mythology, as witnessed by its perpetual permeation into all areas of popular culture.
American Gothic by Grant Wood.
Hughes, Robert. American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.