American Gothic, 1930

Narrator: When asked what American Gothic was about, Wood often said that it was really about architecture. This answer was typical of him—he didn’t like to give much away. But it’s true that the starting point was the house in the background. With a gothic-style window that seemed out of sync with its simple construction, the house seemed to him typically American. He later used his dentist and his sister Nan—in separate sittings—as the models for this couple.

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