I have written about Grant Wood here before. Most know him from American Gothic, the well-known painting of the somber farmer and wife and pitchfork in front of a neat farm home. But for me, I am totally enthralled by his landscapes, drawing heavy influence from the way his curvy hillocks and fields come to life within his compositions. Whenever I am feeling less than inspired all I need to do is glimpse a Grant Wood landscape and I am filled with vigor, envisioning new work of my own that draws upon the same life force and rhythm that I am seeing in his work.
I think that Wood and I share the same belief that the landscape is alive and is best represented by human curves and, looking at his work, it is easy to connect with the humanity beneath it. I’ve included some of my favorite Grant Wood landscapes here including The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere with its nocturnal blue tint in its upper reaches. It’s a bright and shining painting but you never doubt that it is a night scene. That’s one of the other lessons that I drew from Wood– that you can represent things that are counter-intuitive if you paint them with that sense of rightness in your mind that allows it to see that thing in its essence, in its true nature.
It’s almost like seeing things through the eyes of a child. Not quite but in that spirit. For such a seemingly simple concept, it’s a difficult thing to get across. Anyway, enjoy these pieces from the great Mr. Wood. I know that they have filled me with inspiration already this morning.
Redtree Times 