More sophisticated assessments of the painting held that it was a brilliant satire of the “rigidity of American rural or small-town life” (Fineman, 2005). When images of the painting finally reached Iowa, the response was largely negative as Wood’s fellow Iowans were dismayed at the way in which he portrayed them, as if they were always “grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers” (Fineman, 2005). It was thanks to this patron that the work received the bronze award along with a small cash prize and that the museum acquired the piece itself. According to Fineman (2005), Wood entered the painting in a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago where most of the judges considered it trivial and meaningless, but one patron of the museum saw something more important. The reception of this piece of art illustrates the degree of difference in perspectives a different set of eyes can introduce to the work. When contemplating a work of art, one of the key questions ought to be ‘what is this to me?” (Armstrong, 2000: 4-5). As John Armstrong says, “however crowded the gallery, an encounter with a work of art is always something we pursue alone – no one else can make the work matter to us. While Fineman suggests that this interpretation was offered by Wood’s sister Nan, who posed for the female character and was perhaps embarrassed by the prospect that she would be married to a man obviously so much older than she, the true nature of this relationship is actually not as important as the individual viewer’s interpretation.Īlthough we may be told what a particular painting is supposed to mean, ultimately, it is up to the individual to determine what the piece means to them in particular. Although the picture is widely considered to be the picture of the ultimate example of a Midwestern farmer and his wife, there are conflicting reports that Wood intended to represent a farmer and his wife. The image has made significant transitions in the way in which it has been interpreted over the years, largely due to the way in which people have approached it.
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