GRANT WOOD was an American painter, born on this date (d. 1942) best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly American Gothic, which has become an iconic example of 20th-century American art. As a gay man in Iowa, he was forced to hide or disguise his same-sex references and representations, but they are there, hiding in plain sight.
Wood was married to Sara Sherman Maxon from 1935–38. Seven years older than Grant, she was born in Iowa in 1884. Even his own friends considered the marriage a mistake for Wood.
Wood taught painting at the University of Iowa’s School of Art from 1934 to 1941. During that time, he supervised mural painting projects, mentored students, produced a variety of his own works, and became a key part of the University’s cultural community.
He was a closeted gay man. There was an attempt on the part of a senior colleague, Lester Longman, to get him fired both on moral grounds and for his advocacy of regionalism. Critic Janet Maslin states that his friends knew him to be “homosexual and a bit facetious in his masquerade as an overall-clad farm boy.” University administration dismissed the allegations and Wood would have returned as professor if not for his growing health problems.
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(Source: White Crane Institute)
