“Technique does not constitute art. Nor is it a vague, fuzzy romantic quality known as ‘beauty,’ remote from the realities of everyday life. It is the depth and intensity of an artist’s experience that are the first importance in art.“
- Name: Grant Wood
- Born: February 13, 1891
- Died: February 12, 1942 (Age: 50)
- From: Anamosa, Iowa
- Pronouns: He/him
- Contribution/Impact: Wood was an accomplished artist of the twentieth century that created some of the most iconic pieces from the time.
- Occupation: Painter, Artist
- Works: American Gothic (1930), Arnold Comes of Age (1930), Stone City, Iowa (1930), Parson Weem’s Fable (1939)
- Awards: Iowa Award (2009)
- Interesting Facts: Wood turned the loft of the carriage house he lived in with his mother into a personal studio at “5 Turner Alley” which is an address he made up as the residence did not previously have one.
Grant Devolson Wood was born to a couple of farmhands in the late nineteenth century. His early childhood had a large impact on Wood’s later works. After losing his father at an early age (around ten years old), Wood and his family moved to Cedar Rapids were Wood and his brother had to get odd jobs in order to support the family. The balancing between art, school, and work went on for years until 1925 when Wood made the switch to work on art full time and created some of his iconic piece’s like “American Gothic.” He died of pancreatic cancer a day before his fifty first birthday.
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