Grant Wood (American, 1892–1942). Tree Planting Group. 1937. Lithograph. Cover art © Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

Best known for American Gothic (thought to be comparable to the Mona Lisa as a “universally recognized cultural icon”), Wood was a proponent of Regionalism: “I am building an art of, and for, a specific locality….” He became director of the Public Works of Art Project in Iowa during the Great Depression. Like many artists of that era, he often focused on physical work—pure muscle power, persistence, and mastery of the task. During the last years of his life, he honed his lithographic technique, sometimes using dental tools; as he refined his style, his subjects came to look more like sculptures than flat images.

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