1936

Plowing

American, 1891 - 1942

The principal advocate for American Regionalism's focus upon local subject matter, Grant Wood was far from a countrified farmer. He was trained in art, design, and metalwork; studied in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Paris; and traveled in Europe. During the Depression, his idealized landscapes were criticized for portraying a nostalgic pastoral calm at odds with the reality of Iowa's collapsing farm economy. However, Wood's landscape is also modern: the large quiltlike squares of earth and streamlined curves of undulating fields resemble the simplified forms of modern industrial design, and the scale of work shown is a feat of modern machinery. Still, there is breathtaking romance in Wood's vision of a world perfectly formed by a solitary plowman.