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1. Grant Wood
Grant Wood I recently took a trip to the Jocelyn Art Museum. There they had many great painting in
the permanent art collection. One that caught my eye, which I had seen many times before, but
never knew any thing about, was a painting called Stone City, Iowa , which was created by Grant
Wood in 1930. This painting is oil on wood panel and is 30 ¼ X 40 inches. Grant Wood is a famous
philosopher who was born in February in the year 1891 in Anamosa, Iowa. Wood was born to
Quaker parents on a small farm. This experience would be the basis of his iconic images of small–
town plain folk and verdant Midwestern vistas. He later moved to Cedar Rapids after the death of
his father in 1901. He first studied at the Minneapolis School of ... Show more content on
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At the start of his career he was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and then painted in a
manner that could be compared to those of John Sloan, Edward Hopper, Edouard Vuillard or Utrillo.
Wood changed his style in 1928 as seen with "American Gothic", his masterpiece produced in 1930,
which became a much popular painting in the U.S. It represented a couple of farmers in front of
their house built in the "gothic carpenter" style. Such painting revealed the influence of German and
Dutch primitive painters regarding the minute treatment of details, notably in the architecture of the
farm. It symbolised the life of pioneers. Wood painted the people and landscapes of the Middle West
in an idealised way, inspired by his personal universe filled with tales and legends thus paying
homage to those people who worked hard without bothering about earning money. Stone City, Iowa
was Wood's first major landscape, painted in the same year as the famous American Gothic. At the
height of his style, Stone City is also the epitome of Wood's dialogue about change that was often
threaded through his traditional subjects. Understood in this tranquil, idealized scene of life in
harmony with nature was the knowledge that Stone City itself reflected the transitions brought about
in a rural community by industrialization. Located on the Wapsipinicon River twenty–six miles from
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3. Thomas Benton Research Paper
Thomas Benton was the most famous regionalist artist, and most of his art works were whose father
and great uncle had been congressmen from Missouri, saw art as an agent of social changes, a
means to restore the values and democratic traditions of the American republic. He was seen as the
group spokesman of regionalism, committed most of his art to depicting Missouri. He asserted: "I
wanted to show that the people's behaviors, their action on the opening land, was the primary reality
of American life."(Haskell, 221) Benton believed that the self–reliance and individualism associated
with the frontier spirit, if applied to an urban, industrial scenario, would bring about a harmonious,
fulfilled life. In December 1934, Time magazine published ... Show more content on
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He was active in the running of the Federal Art Project during the 1930s, he later became assistant
professor of fine arts at the University of Iowa. Regarded as "chief philosopher and greatest teacher
of representational U.S art," he was also a vehement proponent of cultural nationalism. He asserted
that "A work which does not make contact with the public is lost.""All the really good ideas I'd ever
had had come to me while I was milking a cow. So I went back to Iowa." He believed artists should
adopt a narrative style an create art based on what was unique to the American experience. He
created a world where men and women worked collectively for the common good. As in American
Gothic (see fi.3), the man and woman's stern face expressions remind us of the puritan ancestors
who worked hard and led a abstinent life. This painting was seen a depiction of the steadfast
American pioneering spirit which would rekindle people's pride in who they were and where they
had come from. (Haskell) He created this fable of American resilience and strength when he found a
cottage which was designed in the Gothic Revival style with a distinctive upper
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5. The Meaning Of Art
For many individuals collecting and viewing art might be thought of as a favorite hobby or past
time. Individuals might be seen at a local art museum just gazing at a piece of art, exhibiting almost
signs of being in a trance of deep thought as one stands front and center, not moving for what seems
to be an endless amount of time. The reason for such an appreciation for art, might be what it
represents. Lisa Marder writes, "Art can be thought of as a symbol of what it means to be human,
manifested in physical form for others to see and interpret. It can serve as a symbol for something
that is tangible, or for a thought, an emotion, a feeling, or a concept. Through peaceful means, it can
convey the full spectrum of the human experience." (Marder, 2017, para. 28). Meaning, art really
has the ability to express many things and perspectives, which can also be represented in various
shapes, sizes, and forms such as, drawings, sculptures, paintings, etc. With that being said, art is not
only about the message that is being conveyed, but also a significance placed upon how the message
is conveyed. There is a lot of thought and precision that goes into creating such art, that will enhance
the message being conveyed; form and composition, material and technique, the lines, color, and
texture, space and perspective, and proportion and scale. It is that same thought and precision that
went into the 1941 creation of John Steuart Curry's, "Our Good Earth" (Kevernacular, 2014). The
"Our
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7. The Great Depression Through The Artist 's Eyes
In 1929, the Western industrialized countries succumbed to a bleak period of time known as the
Great Depression. This economic collapse, which persisted for ten long years, was preempted by the
stock market crash on Wall Street, buying on credit, supply and demand along with the Dust Bowl
of the Great Plains. During this economic state of crisis, the unemployment rate had risen from 3%
to 25%, almost 13 million Americans were jobless. Many people could not pay their rent or
mortgages. People were evicted into the world of public assistance and forced to wait in long
breadlines for free food. Suicide reached an all–time high. "No nation could emerge from the
cauldron of national crisis without profound social and cultural change" (Independence Hall
Association). Artwork is an expression of a feeling or idea that an artist portrays. It's an avenue of
communicating a moment in time. This paper will analyze four pieces of artwork representing the
Great Depression through the artist's eyes. Artistic styles will be explored along with discussion of
trade and exchange as depicted from the artwork. Regionalism is an American realist modern art
movement popular during the 1930s. Artists during this art movement shunned the city and the
rapidly developing technological advances, dubbed the Age of Progress, to focus on rural life
instead (Artinthepicture). The Regionalists view was to paint what was around them, what they
know and what they see. During the Great Depression
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9. Grant Wood Essay
Grant Wood
I recently took a trip to the Jocelyn Art Museum. There they had many great painting in the
permanent art collection. One that caught my eye, which I had seen many times before, but never
knew any thing about, was a painting called Stone City, Iowa , which was created by Grant Wood in
1930. This painting is oil on wood panel and is
30 ¼ X 40 inches.
Grant Wood is a famous philosopher who was born in February in the year 1891 in Anamosa, Iowa.
Wood was born to Quaker parents on a small farm. This experience would be the basis of his iconic
images of small–town plain folk and verdant Midwestern vistas. He later moved to Cedar Rapids
after the death of his father in 1901. He first studied at the Minneapolis ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
What they shared, among themselves and among other American Scene painters, was a humble,
antimodernist style and a fondness for depicting everyday life. However, their rural conservatism
put them at odds with the urban and leftist Social Realists of the same era.
The three best–known regionalists were Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood.
With Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry, who died prematurely in 1946, Wood represented
the painters of "The American Scene" also known as the school of Regional American Landscape.
These artists represented rural life in the U.S in the tradition of European masters.
They enjoyed success in 1930 during the Great Depression when the public found some intellectual
and moral comfort during troubled times. Wood was trying to induce the birth of a true American
national art. He even wrote a manifesto, "Revolt against the City" in 1935 calling for a renaissance
of American art which he found too dependent on European art, especially French art notably in the
field of abstract painting. He wanted to regroup regional schools in order to develop a new form of
realistic painting.
Success came late for Wood who spent his life in his native Iowa where he found his inspiration and
subjects. At the start of his career he was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and then
painted in a manner that could be compared to those of John Sloan, Edward Hopper, Edouard
Vuillard or
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11. Thomas Benton Research Paper
Thomas Hart Benton was born in on April 15, 1889 in Neosho, Missouri. He was named after his
great–great–uncle. He was the oldest child of four children. His parents' names were Elizabeth Wise
Benton and Maecenas Eason Benton. Maecenas Benton gained fame as a painter of the American
Scene. His father was a very successful lawyer and congressmen. Maecenas Eason Benton was born
on January 29, 1848 in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He was a U.S. representative from Missouri.
Elizabeth Wise Benton was born on July 1866 in Texas. They were very supportive of their son.
Although his mother encouraged his artistic endeavors, but his father did not.
Tom Benton went to high school in Neosho. Thomas Benton attended various schools throughout
his life. His parents ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Rita was an Italian immigrant and former student. She was very involved in Benton's career.
Together they had two children. A son named Thomas Piacenza Benton (born in 1926) , and a
daughter named Jessie Benton (born in 1939). Until Thomas's death in 1975, they were married for
53 years. Rita soon died ten weeks after her husband. In 1924 he returned to Missouri to care for his
father, who was dying in the hospital. His father later died on April 27, 1924. At New York's Art
Students League Benton was a teacher. Offering students grounding in European history, as well as
an awareness of European modernism. He began the naturalistic and representational work known
as regionalism. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry gaining artistic fame. His paintings
were based on American ordinary life. Benton's main contribution to the twentieth–century
American art was emphasis on ordinary people and common life. The advent of Abstract
Expressionism has all but Benton's importance in the history of modern art. His interest in music
included songs and instruments relating back to his life in Missouri. This artist was a self–taught,
harmonica player, was also a collector, cataloguer, transcriber, and distributor of popular music.
Jackson Pollock was Benton's passionate follower in the
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13. Moral 1943-1947 Analysis
The Painting selected for the collection is Mural 1943–1947 by Sante Graziani. Sante Graziani was
an American artist and artist and art educator. He was known for his morals which adorned many
public buildings. The painting allows for an effective opportunity to inspire and evoke interest for
arts in students.
In the fall of 1942, the Museum of Fine Arts declared a competition for the formation of a mural for
the museum. Sante Graziani won the competition. Graziani incorporated the greater part of the arts –
dance, music, theater, painting, sculpture, architecture, photography – in his design.
I found the painting interesting as it illustrates the relation between all fine arts in a very skillful
manner. Graziani painted four panels which ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
To the left of the group a man in a horse mask symbolizing the stage of the theatre. Amidst the
group is a young man, maybe speaking to Graziani's desire that both young and old people should
take an interest in the arts. The second panel incorporates a group of young men working on a
potter's wheel. In the center of this panel the artist Leonard Baskin, Graziani's previous school
roommate, carves a square of wood. Music is represented by five youths sitting on a bench: one is
playing the mandolin, on the clarinet, and the others are singing. To the far right of the mural, a man
in overalls leads a young boy up the steps of the platform to enter the scene –– symbolically entering
the world of the arts.
The work can be a great choice for the selection as it highlights the significance of art in a very
holistic manner. The inclusion of African American women and blue as well as white collar workers
depict a realistic picture of the society. As is true about any form of art, a great piece of work is
always rooted in the culture of the artist; the scene in the painting is localized by an inclusion of the
local landmarks and
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