Born in the small town of Anamosa Iowa in 1891, Grant Wood painted simple farm and country scenes of the local land and people. His work captured the rural American life style with a love for the communities and environment He knew farm life and its people with an intimate knowledge that transformed his work to very personal viewer experience.

Grant Wood showed an interest in art at a very early age. He often drew pictures with burnt sticks his mother gave him from her stove. He took art classes, taught art, made jewelry, learned carpentry, decorated people’s houses and cared for his mother and his sister Nan.

In 1920, Grant decided to travel to Europe to study artists like Pierre Bonnard, Alfred Sisley and Camille Pissarro. It was after his trip to Germany that Grant found a way to paint that was all his own. Grant realized that scenes of the people and places he knew while growing up were as beautiful and important as anything he had seen in Europe.

Please visit the The Grant Wood Art Gallery web site for more information.