Grant Wood
ARTS 1301.002
Fall 2011
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Grant Wood
This will be evaluating the way in which Grant wanted the public to view this art work. This is how he imagined Paul Revere in the event of the Revolutionary War when he was a child. I will be explaining the meaning behind colors and values used as well as other identifying elements in the painting. Grant painted the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere to not only show how he imagined it but also as a means of expressing his feelings towards European and modern influences.
Grant Wood, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931
Grant Wood was alive up until just about the end the Depression Era following World War I. During which the stock market crashed and unemployment was at a new high. This is just one of many events that influenced Wood to paint in the manner he did. In some of his paintings he expressed America as he believed it to be and his paintings became a symbol of nationalism among other art work (Kleiner, 2009).Wood was a part of the “American Scene” which refers to those artist who turned their attention to naturalistic depictions of American life rather than the industrial city life (Arnason & Mansfield, 2010). This particular art work was finished in 1931. Wood completed this painting in his studio which was known as 5 Turner Alley, where he completed several other famous paintings the most well known being “American Gothic” (Kleiner, 2009). The medium used in this piece was Oil on masonite. The actual painting is 76.2 cm by 101.6 cm. The purpose of this art was to show how he depicted the story of Paul Revere when he was a child. The artist is includes houses along a road in between a river and near a small forest. He also depicts Paul Revere riding through the town as several civilians notice him hectically. If you look closely enough you can see in the upper left part of the painting three lights to resemble the enemy nearing its