Happy April, dear readers! We are now finally in the beginning stages of entering into the warmth and sunshine of the spring season as the trees are stretching their limbs and flowers peek up from the still-chilled earth. Because it is the beginning of the month, April Fools must be taken into account. It would truly be a shame if I passed up an opportunity to explore some satirical pieces of art, and perhaps get a nice chuckle out of learning about one. While perusing the web for such a piece, I stumbled upon Grant Wood’s ‘Daughters of the Revolution,’ and this is the work I will discuss, along with the story behind it.
Born February 1981, Grant Wood was best known for his work in Midwestern Regionalism. This style of art emerged in the early 1930s, and artists involved “drew most of their subject matter and inspiration from local traditions such as the Midwestern farm landscape and the history of the native Midwest region.” Wood burst into the art world with his painting, ‘American Gothic,’ a piece dedicated to earlier generations of farmers, which is showcased through the color scheme used and the attention to detail in the faces of the subjects. He unveiled ‘American Gothic’ at the Art Institute of Chicago, and audiences were drawn to it due to its ambiguity. Along with his work as an artist, Wood held a number of positions, including becoming the Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Iowa in 1934 and the cofounder of the Stone City Art Colony and Art School in rural Iowa in 1932. He even supervised the manufacturing of a stained-glass window for the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is in this last accomplishment that the story for ‘Daughters of the Revolution’ resides.
The year was 1927, and Wood had just been given a contract for a memorial stained-glass window for the new Veterans Building. He realized that while he was trained in art and craftsmanship, he knew next to nothing about stained glass. Finding that the experts were overseas, he left the U.S. and spent a year in Munich, Germany, where he directed the construction of the window and learned the craft. The window was completed in 1928 and shipped to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where it was installed on March 9, 1929. All of this was done without any sort of ceremony or fanfare. However, the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution caught wind of where the window was designed and became quite outraged that the location was in Germany and how Wood used German workers to create it (World War I had ended a decade earlier and some wounds were still fresh). Months passed and the window still had yet to be recognized, so Wood decided to put the confidence in his growing fame to good use and painted his piece, ‘Daughters of the Revolution.’ In this work are three stern-faced women facing the viewer with scorn. It almost makes one want to giggle simply because of its seriousness. Wood included two ironic details: one is the famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware hanging in the background of the painting, done by artist Emanuel Leutze . . . a native German who used German models in his piece, and two, the woman second from left in ‘Daughters’ is prominently displaying a teacup made in England – not America. ‘Daughters of the Revolution’ was the only satirical painting Wood created.
Perusing satirical art can be both a fun and eye-opening activity. Grant Wood didn’t only paint this work purely for “revenge” purposes, he also showed that the United States hails influences from all over the world and that it would be silly to become irritated at the beauty they bring. This piece leaves viewers with something to ruminate on, not only the snorts one has when studying the severity of the subject’s faces.
Disclaimer: This article is not satire. Happy April Fools!
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