God Bless America
Sculptor: J. Seward Johnson
Location: Pioneer Court
Installed: Dec, 2008..
The sculpture is based on one of the most famous paintings in the history of American Art. "American Gothic" [1930] by Grant Wood, which is displayed in the nearby Art Institute of Chicago.
American Gothic [1930] by Grant Wood..
at the Art Institute of Chicago..
The painting is said to be an example of Regionalism, an American art movement that aggressively opposed European abstract art. This painting was supposed to be a typical representation of Iowa. Wood wanted to depict the traditional roles of men and women, as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hard labor. He asked his dentist [Dr. Byron McKeeby] and his sister Nan to pose as a farmer and his unmarried daughter. Interestingly, each element of the painting were painted seperately, in the sense that the models never posed with each other..
Installation..Here we see two workers, installing the 25-foot sculpture titled "God Bless America". The Chicago Tribune reports the workers are names Nick Valenza and Doug Roberts. These images were taken as the installation work was still in progress.
Personally, I prefer this much more than the earlier sculpture
"King Lear" [click here] .. by the same artist J. Steward Johnson ...