Grant Wood: A Collection Of 87 Works

But while working on a commission in Germany in 1928, Wood had a chance to see paintings by early German and Flemish masters, sending his own work into a new, more realistic and more American direction.

One of his first paintings in this new style was American Gothic, which he exhibited in 1930 to much acclaim. Among the most iconic and recognizable images in American art, it helped propel Wood to fame and launch the Regionalist movement, of which Wood became the de facto spokesperson. Wood spent the rest of his life working on his own art as well as teaching others. He died in 1942.