A while back in a fit of lookalike frenzy we went on an American Gothic binge. Somehow we forgot the wedding scene in the Rocky Horror Picture Show and of course Green Acres but now a reader (thanks P) has sent us these two pics of the original house and models for the famous painting.
Grant Wood was originally going to do the Whistler thing and use his mother but she was too frail so he swapped her out for his sister Nan. Like a good sport she wore their mother’s apron and a small brooch with her portrait on it. Standing next to her is Wood’s dentist Byron McKeeby. The reaction from the farming community wasn’t that great. When the painting was displayed one threatened to bash Wood’s head in and another, in some sort of weird channelling of Van Gogh, threatened to bite off his ear. If you want to know more about this painting this is the book with all the details.
Images: Top models Nan Wood and Byron McKeeby with Grant Wood’s painting American Gothic. Bottom, the AG house in Eldon.
