Friday, May 20, 2011

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

In the painting The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Grant wood captures the scene where Paul rides his horse through the town. Grant paints the picture like a child with simple geometric shapes and lines. In this painting Grant makes no attempt to be historically correct by the lighting in the windows because it is too bright to be candle lights. Wood also made the moon shadow to bright to be scientifically correct. Wood has also painted the American gothic painting. Wood painted this painting during the world war II to boost American moral. Wood struggled against that tide, committed to his dream of a truly American art that would link the present to the past and preserve all the stories that made up the American heritage. (picturing American)

2 comments:

  1. I have seen this work before. The simplicity of the characters and objects make the art look almost like a children's book. I think that if Wood would have focused more on a realistic approach, he would have pulled more of an audience and created a stronger morale among the American public. Instead, he made the piece much less "serious" by making the scene look cartoon-like.

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  2. There is no picture so it's kind of hard to picture it. Could you upload the picture? But how did it boost american morals? And why did he struggle against tides?

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