The Grant Wood: The Regionalism Movement

The Regionalism movement was spearheaded by Grant Wood and his world famous work American Gothic, a ranch style home with gothic upper window, and Wood’s sister and family dentist as the happy farm couple. The Regionalism movement is an American Scene movement that was created in the early 1900’s. The Regionalism movement focuses on landscapes in the United States. Before the Regionalism movement many of these artists painted in the modernism and impressionism movements. Artists such as Andrew Wyeth took what they have seen on a daily basis and made beautiful art out of it.
Grant Wood started the movement that would be followed by greats such as Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Andrew Wyeth. All four of these artists have a piece

In approximately 1920 Benton began to shed his modernism ways for a regionalism style. In 1924 Benton began to drive across the Midwest and paint the people and landscape that he was seeing. This was the main change in Benton’s art style which is seen in his work Ploughing it under. Ploughing it under, is a great representation of the west and the farm community. Showing a distinct American mule being mushed by an African American ploughman. I think that Benton does a great job incorporating all of the aspects of a great landscape that is capped off with a working ploughman with his and his mules head down. Wither Benton purposely painted the picture with the mule and ploughman going uphill or not, to me I see an uphill battle of the farm community at a time during the Great depression. The title Ploughing it under, came from legislation that was passed that caused the already planted cotton crops to be

My favorite work by Curry is Ajax, this work is of a large prize bull in a field. It is said that Curry painted Ajax, to show people that even though the dust bowl had affected the country and that the Great Depression was hanging like a black cloud that out west there was still life flourishing. The style that is shown in Curry’s Ajax, is another example of Regionalism in the Midwest.
Andrew Wyeth was born on July 12th, 1917 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The son of N.C Wyeth, a well known illustrator, who was also his mentor. In 1937 Wyeth was featured in an art show in New York City, at the Macbeth Gallery. Wyeth sold every painting that he had brought to the gallery, kick-starting his career and his fan base.
After Wyeth’s career start at the Macbeth Gallery he continued to paint from two main areas, around his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and Cushing, Maine. Many years later came my favorite piece by Wyeth, Young Bull, his work much like the previous three artists shows a very stylistic landscape and people/animal connection. Young Bull, depicts a Bull on the Kuerners Farm in Chadds Ford. The Bull is standing in front of a fence near the gate to the farm. Wyeth is well known for his attention to detail and it shows in all of his work to do with the Kuerners Farm, looking at his work you can very easily and visually see that he modeled his work over scenes that he had seen. Another