114 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.com
W
hile driving around the Iowa
countryside Grant Wood (1891-
1942) discovered a classic Gothic Revival
farmhouse and began musing about the
people who might live there. The painting,
American Gothic, 1930, is the result, now
an icon of American art. Wood meant it
as a positive portrayal of solid American
values, but it has become more popular as
a satirical look at the same values.
Beth Foley has created a series of paint-
ings inspired by American Gothic for the
exhibition Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
at Gallery Victor Armendariz in Chicago
through February 28. She says, “I’ve always
loved Grant Wood. When I was in art school
everyone made fun of him. Then I moved
to San Francisco and went to his show and
I felt so validated. I love people and painting
people. For this show I started looking for
couples that represent America now.”
Foley paints the diversity of the people
in America. In Hillbilly American Gothic,
the shape of the Gothic house is emulated
in the shape of the barn and its porch,
the pitchfork (here stuck into a porch
post) is replaced in the farmer’s hand by a
masculinity enhancing shotgun. In Muslim
American Gothic, the couple replicates
the poses of the original and is dressed in
their traditional garb. An Islamic pattern
replaces the lace curtains in the windows
of the original.
William Blake began his experience of
history as a bugle boy in Civil War reenact-
ments. He says, “When I went to art school
I fell in love with the artist correspondents
of the Bohemian Brigade, and I have
become Winslow Homer in reenactments.”
Homer joined the brigade in 1861 as a
correspondent for Harper’s Weekly. Blake
researches the period and sports a beard
and mustache as Homer and most soldiers
had. Taking part in the reenactments, for
which he makes period clothes and camps
on the battlefields, brings veracity to the
experience that appears in his work.
“The picture is always getting larger and
more accurate,” he explains. “The more you
get into it more of the stories emerge.” In
1865, for instance, the Grand Review of the
Armies victory parade in Washington, D.C.,WILLIAM BLAKE & BETH FOLEYMine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / GALLERY VICTOR ARMENDARIZ
Through 2/28 Chicago, IL1
1
William Blake, Incredulity,
oil on canvas, 40 x 30"2
Beth Foley, Muslim American Gothic,
oil on panel, 10 x 8"