Spring in Town-Critical Analysis 1

Spring in Town is an oil painting by Grant Wood in 1942. Wood became well known for his artwork American Gothic in 1930. After many different works of art, Spring in Town was his last painting. Most of Grant’s art was about the American culture at the time. Once you see one of his paintings, it is pretty easy to identify others. Most show the farmlands, as I would call it, pastures, plowed fields, and people outside working. I really like this painting because it shows how after a long winter, life returns to normal in the spring and everyone gets back to work. Can you imagine after several months of bitter coldness how excited the characters in the painting are to be able to work outside again?
In this painting the first thing you notice is the man upfront with his shirt off, plowing a garden. Then off to the left, you see a woman, maybe his wife or daughter, hanging out sheets to dry. Now as you begin to take in the remainder of the picture, you see a whole community outside, enjoying the beauty of the day working to get things done.
A main part in the painting is three or four houses all based around a church in the middle towards the back. The houses aren’t huge but they don’t appear to be poverty stricken homes either. Each one is about the same size with a basic farmhouse structure, square shape with a sloping addition possibly a shed or storage room. The view of each house is from the side and each one possesses at least two windows and a door. Each house has a chimney and a tin roof.
The people are all outside. The closest house that seems to be the center of attention is where the man is plowing the garden and the woman hanging sheets. Then you can see what looks like a child mowing grass and then a child standing by a tree. At the next house to the right, someone is outside and it appears that he is cutting wood. He has his arm raised above his head with his back turned towards the viewer. Off in the distance at another house, someone is climbing onto a roof and there is a woman standing in the doorway.
The scenery is mostly green, showing the life of spring. The trees are in full bloom and in the man’s garden, he already has plants growing. The child is cutting grass indicating that there has been rain and the grass has come back to life after winter and began to grow.
Just like Wood’s other paintings, this is about hard work. At each individual house, at least one member of the family is outside working. I think, however, rather than groaning and complaining about the chores, these people are happy because it is spring snd winter is finally over. They get to go outside and enjoy the weather while they work to help out their families.
I like how the church is in the center of the painting. To me, this symbolizes that the community is centered around their church. Also I like how the family in the front center of the painting is all working together to get the chores down faster. Then they can spend time with each other doing the things they really enjoy.
Consider the timeframe this picture was painted; early 1940’s during the Great Depression and WWII. When you realize that, this painting takes on a whole different meaning. Each person is working hard to help out their family but at the same time they don’t seem to be too affected with poverty. I think that each person of the families really enjoys their time together because they realize that there is a war going on and people lose their families everyday. This time period was so hard on everyone but the people in this picture seem to be doing okay because they are working together.
I did like this artwork because of all the detail. I enjoy art that shows human life and the hard times along with the good. I’m not really into paint splattered across canvas, or pictures of fruit; I like for the paining to tell a story. I think that the Wood is telling a message through his characters and their actions about being grateful for what you have and enjoying the wonderful spring time after long winters. At the time of the painting, I think this work of art had a great impact on our society. I could see it helping to bring communities together and people trying to help others out. The 1930’s and 40’s were a hard time but Wood’s art of the normal farmer, housewife, or middle/low class family helped everyone to see that they weren’t the only ones in that situation.
In the beginning I was analyzing this picture more for the seasonal change from winter to spring. I do think that the people pictured in Spring in Town are excited to be able to work outside again. However, I think that when you look deeper into it, you begin to see a more profound meaning of the act of helping each other out.