'American Gothic' by Grant Wood

The familiar image that most people interpret as a Farmer and his wife, holds the distinction of being the 'most parodied' painting in History. You've seen ads and cartoons poking fun at 'Whistler's Mother' or using 'The Mona Lisa' to make a point. Other paintings like 'The Scream', 'Nighthawks' and even 'The Last Supper' have had their share. But 'American Gothic' seems to have more examples by far than any of them.

American Gothic in Advertising

One common occurance of such parodies is in advertising. In an ad shown in Penthouse magazine in the 1970's we see the farm couple, whose rural and simple lives have lacked 'music', now able to listen to the 'Wedding Song' or the 'Stein Song' or any of 11 other built-in tunes on their new Casio musical calculators. From beer to ribs and from tea to dentistry, the all American gothic couple represents the everyman being elevated to a happier life by using the advertisers product.

Below are a couple more ads from the article in Life Magazine, March 23 1962 on American Gothic Parodies.

The Painting

was done in 1930 and according to the artist it depicts a depression era mid-west farmer and his spinster daughter. It is not, as first glance would suggest, a farmer and his wife, though many parodies rely on that interpretation. He holds a three pronged pitchfork, she wears a printed pinafore and a cameo around her neck. They are standing in front of a white farm house. The overly fancy upper window behind them marks the architectural style of the house as "American Gothic", hence the title of the painting. The pitchfork prongs are mirrored in the window and in the farmer's overalls. The pattern of the curtains inside the window are similar to the pattern on the woman's dress. Wood apparently liked the style he noticed on a house in Eldon Iowa so he painted it, then got his sister and his dentist to pose as a couple of people he thought might live in it. He submitted the finished product to a contest held by the Chicago Art Institute and won the bronze prize of $300. Not a lot of money considering the paintings worth today but it launched him from an artist with some local notoriety to one of international fame.

American Gothic In and On Magazines

Another common place to find parodies of Grant Wood's painting is on magazine covers. Here you can see the August 8th, 1994 issue of Time magazine where the farmer has traded his pitchfork for a leather portfolio, his coat in now a vest. The woman's outfit is lighter, newer and she holds a pair of rollerblades. All this is to contrast their 'hip' accoutrements with the original plain and common outfits that befit their hard rural existence.

Mad Magazine has done at least 3 American Gothic covers.

American Gothic in Editorials & Politics

If you want to make a statement about an issue effecting the 'common man', Grant Wood's couple is a great choice. And if the issue is farming or housing, then A.G. is so much better! Here are some examples I've collected over the years.

My Collection

You can click on the menu links to view the rest of my collection. Most of them are items I actually own or that friends own and have sent me pictures of. I must admit that in some cases I have cropped the picture, improved the contrast or otherwise made the image easier to see. And in the cases where a copy of the item is available for sale, I have sometimes substituted the seller's image for my own if it is a better copy.

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