American Gothic
Grant Wood
1930
Oil on beaverboard

This painting is widely recognized and is often parodied. Originally, I saw the woman as the wife and the man as her husband. After reading further into it, the woman is actually the man's daughter who has grown up to not have any children or marry. The pitchfork symbolizes his role, as the man; while the daughter's apron and the flowers over her shoulder represent her domestic role. The woman and man were painted in the image of Grant Wood's own sister and his dentist.