Pictures in the Gothic style. The history of one masterpiece: "American Gothic" of Wood

At least one day, you saw this picture. And the first thing you thought was: - "Hmm ... What is happening here?"

The painting "American Gothic" produces an ambiguous impression on the viewer. Let's try to understand why this happens.
The picture was created in 1930, the artist Grant Wood. Once, he saw a small white house in the style of carpentry gothic. The house attracted the artist, and he decided to write a picture telling the history of residents of the houses that could live in it. As models, he chose his sister National and dentist Byron McCyby. Wood wrote people and the house separately, the scene we see in the picture never happened.

A photograph on which the sister of the artist National and Byron McCyby, who became the heroes of the American Gothic.

Having finished, Wood decided to submit his picture at the competition in the Chicago Institute of Arts. The judges perceived the picture as "humorous Valentine", demonstrating the relations of two spouses with life "baggage". But the keeper of the museum saw something other in the picture and persuaded the judges to hand the Voodoo a prize of 300 dollars and acquire a picture for the institute. There she, by the way, remains still.

After purchasing the picture, the image was decided to type in several urban newspapers. The unexpected, residents of the staff of Iowa, was happening, where the picture was written were accepted by the satirical image of the residents of the state. One lady even threatened to bite the Ear to the artist.

Grant Wood in his justification said that I wanted to create a collective portrait of the Americans and did not want to hurt the feelings of the states of the state. The sister of the artist also saw a humiliating attitude in the picture, however, to her. She spoke to his brother that in the picture it can be taken for his man's wife twice as older. After a public demonstration of the picture, Nen argued that the film depicted father and daughter. However, the artist himself did not comment on this.

Some critics are confident that the picture is a satire to the life of small American cities. During the 1930s, American Gothic became part of a growing critical view of the life and values \u200b\u200bof rural America.

Now pay attention to some facts. Wood was a regionalist artist, not very famous outside his state. He himself rose on the farm, in the countryside, loved the nature and landscapes of small towns. So why do the artist laugh at what he loves?

Working with Bayron McCyby in the image of a man, Wood said that he was a nice face of Bairon. In the picture, a man is depicted in round glasses, but McCybi wore glasses with octagonal lenses. But the father of Wood, wore round glasses, popular in the XIX century.

The image of a woman was written off her sister. In the life of Nen was a bright and positive girl, but in the picture she looks much older. Despite the fact that the picture was written in the 20th century, the clothes of the heroes are taken from the Victorian era, it confirms the angle of the hostess at home, (which Nan had to fret from the mother's dresses, as they did not sell such stores), as well as cameo, which was Popular at that time.

It is possible that Wood created a picture of the memories in which heroes and things reminded him of childhood and the time when he lived on the farm. In addition, during the time of the Great Depression, the picture began to be considered as an image of the masses of American pioneers.

But, despite all this, the picture still leaves a strange mysterious impression. Perhaps the case in the attributes and "behavior" of the heroes. If you carefully look at the heroes, we will see that the man stands in the foreground, a woman is a little behind. His elbow, he hurts her, not letting come closer. In his hands, he holds a pitchfork, but keeps them in a fist, which gives a gesture slightly threatening look.

Over the house you can see the spire of the church. This is a reference to the heritage of Puritian-first-stems who adhered to strict rules and did not like when they invade their quiet life. Behind the back of the man you can see the red barn, which indicates the kind of activity of the owners, like flowers on the veranda. But especially impressionable viewers see the story of horror movie in the picture. Due to what the picture is hundreds, and maybe thousands of times subjected to ridicule. On the Internet you can find a mass of collages on completely different topics, ranging from horror films, ending with a parody of famous characters, musicians, political figures.

Whatever the suggestions of critics and the public, what impression makes this picture only to solve us. In Chicago, for example, considered a good idea to set the characters of the picture of the monument, as if letting them in a large city with a suitcase.

This picture in Russia is known to few people, but throughout the world it is considered to be a classic of American artistic art.

The author of the picture is Grant Wood. The artist was born and grew up in Iowa, where then taught painting and drawing. All his work is made with incredible accuracy to the smallest details. But his most famous painting "American Gothic" became truly a national attraction.

The history of the painting began in 1930 with the fact that the author accidentally saw a neo-style house in a small town of Iowa. Later he portrayed a family, which in his opinion could live in this house. It is noteworthy that the heroes shown nothing to do with this house, do not have any friend. Woman sister artist. The man is his dentist. Portraits with them Wood wrote separately.
Why Gothic? Pay attention to the attic window. In those days, among rural carpenters, various gothic motives were popular in the construction of residential buildings.

Perhaps this is the most concentrated image, only the lazy did not come up with a parody of this picture. However, at one time the picture was perceived differently. After publishing the reproduction of this picture in one of the local newspapers, angry letters fell on the editor. Iowa residents did not like how the artist depicted them. They accused him of a mockery over the rural population. Despite all the attacks, the popularity of the painting has grown rapidly. And during the Great Depression, this picture has become actually an expression of the National Spirit.

Chicago put a monument to the picture. An enterprising sculpture authors have released heroes in a big city, taking a suitcase with them.

The picture made a small town of Aldan in Iowa with a population of almost 1000 people. The house is now standing in the same place, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Parodies on the picture "American Gothic".

Many geniuses and creators in the field of art are not recognized as critics and society during life. After years, they begin to understand and feel, firmly believing that the artist or poet had his special look at things. Then they begin to admire them, picking up to the incredibly talented people of their era. This happened to Wood Grant, who almost a hundred years ago depicted his vision of the lifeguard of the inhabitants of the new world in the film "American Gothic". He was a rather complicated artist, with his character and handwriting.

A couple of words about the childhood of the artist

Many critics and experts in the field of art believe that before analyzing the picture, all the more so that it caused a huge public resonance, it is necessary to study a little the most created masterpiece. It must be done only in order to understand the motives or the promise of the artist. Speaking about Wood Grand, the "American Gothic" picture of which still causes controversy and certain differences among the experts of the world, it is worth saying that his early years were not remarkable.

He was born on a small agricultural farm on the outskirts of the very outskirts that in America. In addition to him in the family there were two more boys and a girl. The father of the family was distinguished by a hot-tempered temper and rigor. He gone pretty early from life. The grant had close and confidential relations with the mother, perhaps because of this, he grew up very sensitive, wounded and the most talented of all children in the family.

Unrecognized genius

Having matured and choosing an artistic path for himself, the grant wrote a sufficient number of paintings, but his work was not appreciated properly. He was not recognized in art, often even not perceiving seriously his work.

About the time in which the picture was written

"American Gothic" of the American artist Grant Wood was written in 1930. This time was quite difficult for a number of reasons:

1. First, in 1929, an economic crisis began in America, which, by the way, did not prevent the rapid steps of the state in the field of construction and industry. New in the country was erected by unknown high-rise buildings. It was a period of novelty and technology.
2. Secondly, around the world as fast as the industry, fascism gained momentum. The new trend and the ideology of Adolf Hitler was strengthened in the minds of people who sought to perfect future.
3. In this list, perhaps, it is also worth adding a fact that concerns personally the artist. Wood grant by that time, a sufficient amount of time lived in France and German Munich. Some critics considered that these walnies were addressed by the film "American Gothic" a lot from the European lifestyle.

After all of the foregoing, you can try to make a certain idea of \u200b\u200bthe artist, about his character and life. Well, when it is done, it is worth abandoning directly to the analysis of the "American Gothic" picture.

It's all about the details

You can analyze the cloth only if it is described in detail. So, in the foreground, two people are depicted: a woman and a man who seems to be much older than her. Wood Grant has repeatedly said that he tried to show his father with her daughter, but it was known for certain that he portrayed his native sister and Dentist Bairon McCyby. According to the artist, the latter differed quite a cheerful temper. True, in the picture "American Gothic", he appears with a restrained person, if not to say harsh. His glance is directed directly to the eye looking at the canvas, and it is impossible to understand what will happen next: whether he smiles, or it will be angry. His face is drawn up so in detail that it is possible to disassemble every wrinkle that there is plenty of it.

The view of the woman is directed the sideways somewhere outside the picture. A man and his daughter stand in the center, and the woman holds an elderly man under the arm. He has a pitchfork in his hands, directed by its episodes up, which he keeps a strong enough grip. It seems that the grant shown by Wood is trying to protect their home, against which they are drawn.

The house is an old structure in the American style. Another nuance that is found in a detailed consideration: everything is done in the picture with the hands of people: a man's shirt, a woman's apron, and, however, and the attic roof.

If you pay attention to the background of the picture "American Gothic", then it seems that Grant Wood did not give him due attention. The trees are presented in the form of geometric shapes and they are absolutely not drawn, summarized. By the way, if you look at, then there is a lot of geometry in the picture: a triangular roof, straight windows of windows, a pitchflowers that twist with a man on a shirt of a man.

The tones in which the canvas is written can be described as quite calm. Perhaps this is the entire description of the "American Gothic" painting, from which it becomes clear why many Americans saw themselves in it: such houses were almost all families living both on the Western and the eastern coast of the mainland.

Assessment of the Company

The picture "American Gothic" produced a furor. Someone was delighted, but there were also dissatisfied. Residents considered such an image of their lifestyle of the artist's mock, and one lady even threatened the physical violence over the grant Wood. She promised to bite his ear. Many people accused the artist in antipathy to everything new, calling him to the conservative and Hangehog, because he portrayed an ancient house on the threshold of a new civilization. The artist himself somehow said about his picture: "I tried to portray these people, what they were for me in that life I knew ...".

Showing a century

It is worth noting that later, the picture still remains at the peak of popularity. Parodies make it, they admire it, they do not understand her. But all this did not prevent "American Gothic" to become a kind of symbol of the lifestyle of those years. After almost a century, critics were able to consider the unshakable spirit of American pioneers in it. Well, the last thing you need to mention: Grant Wood could "hook a huge number of people with his masterpiece, forcing the public to discuss, argue about the picture" American Gothic ".

American Gothic - Grant Wood. 1930. Canvas, oil. 74 x 62 cm

Without exaggeration we can say that the picture "American Gothic" is one of the most recognizable in the world, comparable to, or. Over the years of its existence, the masterpiece has become a victim of many parodies and memes. There is even a very ominous interpretation of the plot. But what is the point invested in his "American Goth" by the author himself?

The picture was created in 1930 during the Great Depression. In the city of Eldon Grant Wood, noticed a neat house created in the style of carpentry gothic. The artist wanted to portray the house and its potential inhabitants - father and daughter, an old virgin (according to other data it is a wife and husband). As models, the sister of the painter and his personal dentist. An unusual exposure of the picture is nothing but to imitate photos of those years.

Heroes are shown very clearly and clear. A man looks at the viewer, in his hands firmly compressed forks. A woman with a strict beam on the back of the head looks away, on her apron with an old-fashioned pattern. The author allowed the girl from the laconic hairstyle to get out only one bundle. In harshs of the heroes and their compressed lips, many art historians find hostility and frank deformity. Others, very authoritative researchers guess a satire for excessive closure and limited residents of small towns.

Meanwhile, Vood himself complained that the public incorrectly treats his work - he saw in rural residents that was the effective force that could withstand economic problems that aroused the great depression. These residents of the towns and villages are determined and courage to fight problems. The artist said that the heroes of his work is a collective image associated with all America. However, the inhabitants of the town of Elton were not injured by the author's explanations, they were outraged and angry at how Wood presented them in their work.

Daughter is this or wife? The answer to this question is also very interesting. The viewer is inclined to "read" this heroine, as a wife, the sister of Wood, who was a model, insisted that this is a daughter. She just wanted to see himself in the famous work younger, because during the positiveness she was only 30 years old.

Wasi are a central element of the picture. Strict, straight lines of the teeth of this agricultural tool are read in other parts of the canvas. The seams of the male shirt almost perfectly repeat the contours of the vil. It seems that all work consists of accessing direct vertical lines - the exterior of the house, the spire, elongated windows and the facial characters themselves. Dentist Byron McCyby, whom we see in the image of a husband, remembered that the artist somehow noted: he likes his face, because it consists of straight lines.

The audience reacted with interest to the work of the wood grant, barely appeared at the exhibition at the Chicago Institute. It is amazing, but not everyone agreed with the author's interpretation of the work, although they recognized that the painter was able to "grab" the American National Spirit very accurately. After the Great Depression lost the place of the usual stable life, the viewer was finally able to see the picture through the eyes of the creator, see not harsh, but unshakable Americans who are ready to fight, but to resist all the troubles.

Middle Ages - the time of crusades, dominance of religion over a secular life, a turning point in the development of European countries. Against the background of political and military transformations, a recognizable, bright style - Gothic, influenced the development of painting, architecture, music, sculpture.

Birth and development

A period of style formation was the developed Middle Ages, the XII century in Western European countries, in the XIII - XVI centuries - in Central Europe. The grandeur of the style is bordered by the effect, which is capable of calling the works of painters and architects of this period.

Gothic painting is distinguished by a specific composition, upholstery colors and shades, image dynamism, plot tension. As part of the study of paintings, it is worth considering a book miniature as a representative direction in art.

Homeland style is France, where in the XII century. From there, Gothic spread to Germany, Spain, England, Austria. In the next century, the gothic influences became noticeable in Italy, where the local original style branch was formed. During the early new time, the style took shape into an international format. The longest of the influence of Gothic was noticeable in the countries of Eastern Europe.
Gothic in painting in the Middle Ages appeared in the art of creating stained glass windows.

Imprimature in painting

Early Development Style Features

Gothic replaced Romance style - it is difficult not to notice the fundamental differences in these areas of art. In the art of gothic is associated with greatness, gradation, special decorativeness.
The feature of the Gothic painting is the presence of significant diversity in the regional development of the style. Determine a unified "formula", according to which it is possible to give a clear characteristic of the direction of art, is impossible. As a result of research on many art historians, gothic style throughout the distribution such features are characteristic:

• Special constructing composition, the illusion of the materiality of the image created by the masters of the Middle Ages.
• Various groups of persons are predominantly adjacent on the canvas - their interaction is decorative, devoid of naturalness.
• Gothic did not completely move away from Romanesque influence to transmit a certain hidden symbolic meaning through the identity of the depicted person.
• Images in the pictures do not look integral, the composition is dismembered, each element must be considered separately.
• Pictures transmit reality through metaphors.
• Expression transmitted through shades and the dynamics of the plot.
• Schedule display of action.
• Religiousness, dominance of biblical and mystical plots.

Minimalism as style in painting

Portrait is the most striking genre.

Book miniature art development

Registration of books in the Middle Ages is difficult not to know. Book miniature reached a high level of development, displaying religious, secular scenes with bright colors in recognizable, Gothic style:

The miniature originated in France in the XIII century, the most famous Creator was Jean Püussel. Thanks to the development of miniatures in art, a learned recognizable Paris school miniatures formed.

In the period of developed Middle Ages, it became possible to decorate the miniatures not only artistic and religious books, but also scientific treatises, chronicles. Patterns became more filigree, openwork, angular. The miniature became more meaningful, more accurately passed the essence of the event, which is displayed by the artist.
An example of the most successful transmission of the essence of phenomena and events with miniature is the "Big French Chronicle".

Impressionism as a style in painting

International Gothic

In the last stages of style development during the period of developed Middle Ages, an international direction appeared. Motherland - Bohemia, Northern Italy, Burgundy. It is with this direction that the art of the period of "sunset of the Middle Ages" or the "Autumn of the Middle Ages" is associated.

Distinctive features were decorative, pomp, abundance of saturated paints. This is the most sophisticated gothic characterized by the exaltation, refinement, special expression.

The term "international gothic" was offered only at the end of the XIX century art historians Julius Schlover and Louis Courage. And to use it to designate late gothic began only in the second half of the 20th century. Until this time, the direction was called the "late Gothic", "Court Gothic", "Special Gothic", if we are talking about painting in Germany, "Soft Style", "Cosmopolitan Art". Since the 20th century, "Late" began to call the canvas, created until 1430, the rest moved into the category "international".

Painting of the era of the Northern Renaissance

Find out the paintings in this direction are simple:

Developed style at the courtyard of monarchs of major European countries. The Gothic art of this type had its own characteristics in each country, which would be able to allow art historians to easily understand which country belongs to the country. But it is not. Due to the active cultural exchange and network of dynastic marriages, due to which cultural characteristics spread throughout the continent, it is very difficult to accurately establish exactly which country was an artist or where the picture was written if the author is missing.

Another reason for the complexity of identification is the work of artists to order. For this reason, the Frenchman could write cannons for the Italian, Spanish courtyard, his work could be presented, and because of this, a large cultural confusion was formed.

Suprematism as a style in painting

The theme of early works in the Gothic style was religion, biblical plots. The international direction departs from this gothic dogma. The period of developed Middle Ages is characterized by the emergence of work on secular subjects - they are ordered by the representatives of the nobility to decorate the interior.

Despite the appearance of secular themes, altar stories and religious images remain basic. International gothic painting is similar to icon painting - especially, the presence of a gold background, in gold, gold.

For the design of paintings, cordial frames were used, sometimes a canvas made up several sash. Wooden planks used as paintings for paintings.

Famous Masters Gothic

Dutcho from Siena

The creator of the Maest altar in the Siena Cathedral with elegant panels decorated with images on religious topics. In his manner of creativity, the Byzantine influences are tracked.

Jotto

Wizard create wall paintings. The brightest work is the painting in the Church of Chapel del Arena. Jotto style practically does not have any influences - this is a pure gothic, filled with dynamics.

Simone Martini

One of the most striking creators of Florence. The work "Path on Calvary" is characterized by the brightness of paints, filled with dynamics.

Painting style Rococco

Traini.

The creator of the famous fresco on the covered cemetery next to the Pisa Cathedral.

Michelino yes damage

The famous painter and the creator of the miniature in the style of international gothic.