Grant Wood: Lithographs

Grant Wood, born and raised in Iowa, achieved international recognition in the mid 1930s for promoting a style of art that depicted everyday scenes of Midwestern life. Coined “Regionalism,” Wood, along with fellow Midwestern artists Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry, gained popularity during the Great Depression for  focusing on American scenes that upheld supposedly American values.

Wood was both a painter and printmaker. Beginning in the late 1930s, he began making lithographs that were sold  through the Associated American Artists (AAA), a company that marketed print editions by major American artists for $5.00 each through mail-order catalogues and magazine advertisements. The reasonable price of these works allowed the public at-large a chance to own a work of art by a  famous contemporary artist.

Wood produced 19 lithographs in his lifetime; the Museum is excited to announce that we have recently acquired the final two lithographs,Fruits and Vegetables, to complete the set. All nineteen will be featured in the exhibition. This exhibit will examine Wood’s thematic concerns and role in the growth and popularity of printmaking in America.

Special thanks to the members of Amateur d’Art and SMMA for their generous contribution towards the purchase of the final lithograph, Vegetables.

The museum’s hours are:

• Sunday 1-5 p.m.
• Monday Closed
• Tuesday – Wednesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Thursday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Friday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• City and national holidays closed