FOF #1288 – American Gothic’s Gay Roots

Nov 12, 2010 · 1985 views

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American Gothic is one of the most parodied paintings of all time and a symbol for anti-gay groups even though Grant Wood, the artist who created the work was gay.

Today art historian R. Tripp Evans talks about his new book on the artist- Grant Wood: A Life- detailing the full rich gay life behind this American master.

    Comments

  1. Tim says:

    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!

  2. Chickengirl says:

    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.

      • Chickengirl says:

        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

  3. BASboy says:

    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.

  4. Sid says:

    wow i was fascinated by today’s interview. i’ve always loved american gothic but i wasn’t aware that grant wood was gay. adolescence is my new favorite painting and my new wallpaper and i completely think it is a reference to gay “chicken” lol. keep up the great work guys! love, sid

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