Plowing

Currently not on view

Plowing

1936

Grant Wood (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.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Plowing

Date:

1936

Artist:

Grant Wood (American, 1891–1942)

Medium:

Colored pencil with charcoal and white opaque paint, squared in charcoal, on paper mounted on Masonite

Dimensions:

Sheet: 23 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches (59.7 x 74.9 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Gift of C. K. Williams, II, 2009

Accession Number:

2009-227-1

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view