Скачать или смотреть Meet the Sister and Dentist Behind 'American Gothic'

The Models for American Gothic Were the Artist’s Sister and Dentist The stern faces in Grant Wood’s 1930 masterpiece, "American Gothic," belong to the artist's sister, Nan Wood Graham, and his dentist, Dr. Byron Henry McKeeby. Wood was originally inspired not by people, but by architecture. He spotted a small white house in Eldon, Iowa, built in the Carpenter Gothic style and decided he wanted to paint it along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house."

While many interpret the painting as a satire of grim, small-town life, Wood intended it as a positive homage to the steadfastness and values of rural America. His sister Nan was adamant about their relationship in the painting; she insisted the public be told they were a father and daughter, not a husband and wife, to avoid being seen as married to a man twice her age. [Sources: Smithsonian Magazine, Art Institute of Chicago]