Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art holds one of the most significant collections of Grant Wood's work anywhere in the world. Wood, who grew up on an Iowa farm and studied art in Paris before returning to paint the rural Midwest with a distinctive ironic warmth, is Cedar Rapids' most famous cultural figure — and the museum makes a convincing case that he deserves far more attention than his reputation as the painter of one famous image.

The collection includes early experimental work, the mature regionalist paintings of the 1930s, and the murals Wood created for various Iowa buildings. The museum also has a strong collection of Marvin Cone, Wood's fellow Cedar Rapids artist and lifelong friend. Temporary exhibitions bring in national touring shows. Allow two hours.

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A story
Grant Wood was born in a farmhouse near Cedar Rapids and spent most of his career within 30 miles of the city. American Gothic — his best-known painting — was created in 1930 at his studio at 5 Turner Alley, a converted carriage house in downtown Cedar Rapids that is now preserved as a museum annex. The woman in the painting was his sister; the man was his dentist.

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