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Wood,
Grant, 1891–1942
Grant Wood was born on February 13, 1891 on his
parents' farm four miles east of Anamosa, Iowa.
Grant Wood was an exceptional artist from a very
young age. When he was 14, he won third prize
in a national contest for a crayon drawing of
oak leaves and said that winning that prize was
his inspiration to become an artist. His formal
art education included two summers with Ernest
Batchelder at the School of Design and Handicraft
in Minneapolis and three years of occasional night
classes at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In October 1920, Grant Wood set out on a trip
to Europe, telling his sister "the art critics
and dealers want no part of American art. They
think this country is too new for any culture
and too crude and undeveloped to produce any artists.
You have to be a Frenchman, take a French name,
and paint like a Frenchman to gain recognition."
It wasn't long before Grant would prove them wrong. |
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