Tag Archives: Artwork Tours

Art Video: “American Gothic” By Grant Wood (Art Institute Chicago)

On this episode of Art Institute Essentials Tour, take a closer look at American Gothic, painted by Grant Wood in 1930. One of the most famous American paintings of all time, this double portrait by Grant Wood debuted at the Art Institute in 1930, winning the artist a $300 prize and instant fame. Wood intended this Depression-era canvas to be a positive statement about rural American values during a time of disillusionment.

Grant DeVolson Wood (1891-1942) was an American painter best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly American Gothic, which has become an iconic painting of the 20th century. 

Artwork Video Tour: Joan Mitchell’s “City Landscape” (Art Institute Chicago)

Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992)

On this episode of Art Institute Essentials Tour, take a closer look at City Landscape, painted by Joan Mitchell in 1955. “I paint a little, then I sit and look at the painting, sometimes for hours. Eventually, the painting tells me what to do.” In City Landscape, a tangle of various colors—pale pink, scarlet, mustard, sienna, and black—evoke the streets of a bustling metropolis. The spontaneous energy conveyed in the composition is at odds with Mitchell’s slow and deliberate process.

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