Next to the Mona Lisa, American Gothic is one of the most reproduced and parodied paintings of all time.
The dour portrait of a Midwestern farmer holding a pitchfork with a woman in front of an American Gothic style house is highly celebrated for its intensity and by many conservatives as a Nationalist symbol for America and the virtue of marriage.
In 2002 anti-gay groups wanted to tie the popularity of the painting to their efforts against marriage equality by naming the Federal Marriage Amendment “the American Gothic Amendment” even though Grant Wood, the artist who created the work was gay.
Today we’re joined by art historian R. Tripp Evans whose bold new book on the artist- Grant Wood: A Life” chronicles the full rich gay life behind this American painter.
Listen as we talk with R. Tripp Evans about Grant Wood’s journey as an artist, the homoerotic imagery in his work, how his sister erased his gay sexuality after his death, and the homophobic review of Tripp’s book by the New York Times.
Featured Book:
R. Tripp Evans – Grant Wood: A Life: Amazon
Featured Music:
Levi Kreis- Where I Belong: iTunes | Amazon
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IMAGES: Gay Meaning in the Art of Grant Wood 
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Comments
I bought the book shortly after it came out but haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet. It may be cool if you guys talk to Jonathan Katz, the curator of the Hide/Seek show at the National Portrait Gallery. I saw him speak at the Gay Center in NYC and it was pretty great!
that was a entertaining show!! I just wrote a huge research on Michelangelo’s homosexuality in my Italian Renaissance class, which shockingly, is still denied by many historians, because of homophobia and the lack of concrete evidence, which I think is BS, all you have to do is read his poetry. He was obsessed with the male form, and loved many men…who knows if he ever had sexual relationships with em, he was a complicated man, and his sexuality isn’t so black and white as some people think.
Grant Wood probably had a little more liberty to explore his sexuality, be he also seemed to have a complicated life….
With all that time in a studio with these hot models, I’m sure Michelangelo had some great gay sex.
perhaps, but he was quoted as saying to avoid having sex if you could, and he described himself as being ugly and old, not to mention he had no regard for personal hygiene, and was made even uglier when his nose broken, so some men may have been reluctant to get in the sack with him lol.
Although besides having nude models at his disposal(he fell in love with a couple of them), it is speculated he also drew naked men in the Roman bathhouses so who knows hehe
This was a great interview and a very interesting story to hear. I forwarded this to my mother who is art history buff and also facebooked it.