- Vol. 03
- Chapter 04
Re-imagining a piece of property
Rural Iowa, late nineteenth century, A tiny house stands unremarkable like the others And largely forgotten in the community. Then a painter is shown around the town and finds it inspiring And worth painting. This property gets immortalized as the American Gothic House By Grant Wood, in the August 1930. The small Dibble House imitates/modifies the Gothic style By incorporating new features like a window in a light frame house Mixing tradition with innovation. The improvised style suites their purpose for showing novelty. Wood re-imagines the commonplace and paints the house As per his inner dictates. His sister and dentist model for his artistic eyes The pitchfork The clothes The stern expressions of a hardy couple Working on the earth for survival Capture the dust from national architecture and history In a single frame than the archives. Two different segments of time get blended on this vibrant canvas. And so is born, out of this careful fusion and selection, a great piece of popular art That has put Iowa on international artistic circuits.