Grant Wood's Appraisal: Where Folk Art and Popular Culture Meet
| Autor | Barbara Ladner |
| Cargo | Professor of English West Virginia State University |
| Páginas | 37-54 |
ENCUENTROS
Grant Wood’s Appraisal: Where Folk Art and Popular Culture Meet
Barbara E. Ladner, Ph.D.
ProfessorofEnglish
WestVirginiaStateUniversity
ladnerbe@wvstateu.edu
ABSTRACT
InGrantWoodsAppraisal,parallelsamongthepaintingsvarioustransactionsmirrorthesocioeconomictransformations
behindthem Woodsdepiction oftwo womenengaged infarmyard chickensellingbuyingreects athencontemporary
transitionfromfamilyocktochickenfactoryasindustrializedpoultryproductionwasjustcomingintobeingThewomens
contrastedclothingrepresentsseveraltensionsinpreWorldWarIIAmericansocietyruralversusurbanworkversusleisu-
reproductionversusconsumptionfolkversuspopularculturetraditionversusmodernizationandinheritedversussocial
identity. Appraisalsuggeststhatthisfundamentaleconomicshiftproducednotonlyawideninggapbetweenverydierent
lifestylesbutalsoacleardistinctionbetweenmodesofexpressionandrepresentationThispaperexamineshowfolkarthere
seenthroughthe farmsmaterialcultureandthe paintingsfolkystyleandpopular cultureseeninthe olderwomans
fashionableclothesandthescenessimilaritytopopularadvertisementsofthedayoperateinfundamentally dierentways
toexpresstwodivergentlifewaysWoodsrepresentationofvanishingAmericanlifestylesandhallowedlegendspokesfun
attheconspicuousnostalgiaofasocietythatwasinfactmodernizingitswayoflifewithalldeliberatespeed
Key words: GrantWoodagricultureconsumptionadvertisingmaterialculture
El cuadro Appraisal [Evaluación] de Grant Wood: Donde convergen
el arte folklórico y la cultura popular
RESUMEN
Enel cuadrodelpintor GrantWoodllamadoAppraisal [Evaluación] los paralelos entre las distintas transacciones de la
pinturasonun reejodelastransformacionessocioeconómicas quelesubyacenLarepresentación queWoodhacede dos
mujeresinvolucradasenlacompraventadegallinasdepatioogranjareejaunatransicióncontemporáneaeneseentonces
deunsistemadeproducciónavícolafamiliaraunoindustrialenfábricasyaquelaproducciónavícolaindustrializadaestaba
apenasiniciándoseElcontrasteexistenteentrelaropadelasmujeresrepresentavariastensionesde lasociedadamericana
anterioralasegundaguerramundialcampo versusciudadtrabajoversusrecreaciónproducciónversusconsumofolklor
versusculturapopular tradiciónversusmodernizacióneidentidad heredadaversusidentidadcultural Elcuadrosugiere
queestecambioeconómicofundamentalprodujonosolamenteunabrechacadavezmayorentreestilosdevidamuydistintos
sinotambiénunaclaradistinciónentremodosdeexpresiónyderepresentaciónEsteartículoexaminacómoelartefolklórico
vistoatravésdelaculturamaterialdelagranjayelestilofolklóricodelapinturaylaculturapopularvistaenlaropade
modadelamujermásviejayenelparecidodelaescenaapropagandaspopularesdelaépocaoperandemanerasfundamen-
talmentedistintaspara expresardosestilosde vidadivergentesLarepresentaciónde WooddeestilosdevidaAmericanos
enprocesodeextinciónydeleyendasconsagradasletoma elpeloalanostalgiaconspicuadeunasociedadquedehecho
estabamodernizandosumodusvivendiconrapidezdeliberada
Palabrasclave Grant Wood, agricultura, consumo, propaganda, cultura material
FechaderecibidodeabrildeFechadeaceptacióndeoctubrede
ENCUENTROSISSNNoDiciembredeP
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ENCUENTROS
Fromthecountlessbrands andgradeson
the markettoday thenest kindsof each
foodhave beenpainstakinglysifted outby
able men.
Youtakewhatyoupleasein yourhands
lookitoverreadthepricetagsarriveatyour
owndecisionUninuenced bysalesmen
youbuypurelyonmeritatPigglyWiggly
PigglyWigglyp
Introduction
An encounter between two women do
minatesthefarmseingofGrantWoods
Appraisal (Image 1; 1931). Seen from the
waistupthewomeneachllonesideof
theforegroundpuingtheviewerinthe
position of a third party to the meeting.
What kind of meeting between such
dierentwomenwhatkindofappraisal
do we witness here? The direction of the
gazesofthepaintingsthreeguressu
ggests at least three acts of appraisal: the
young woman at left looks at her older
visitor; the older woman gazes at the
chicken; and the chicken stares pointedly
out at the viewer. Wood’s presentation
oftheseguresandthecontextinwhich
he painted this work suggest not only a
simple pecuniary transaction but also a
number of cultural transactions, between
producer and consumer, rural and urban
values, folk ways and popular culture.
In each case, the transaction at stake is an
implied challenge based on relative value.
This paper will show that the painting’s
structure draws parallels among these
various transactions that, in turn, mirror
thesocioeconomictransformationsbe
hind them. The chicken’s central place on
the canvas emblemizes this link between
cultural expression and societal structure,
because Wood painted this work in the
eraoftransitionfromfamilyocktochic
ken factory, when industrialized poultry
production was just coming into being.
Appraisal suggests that this fundamental
economic shift, of which industrialized
food production was perhaps the last
stage, produced not only a widening
gapbetweenverydierentlifestylesbut
also a clear distinction between modes
of expression and representation. This
paper examines how folk art, here seen
through the farm’s material culture and
the painting’s “folky” style, and popular
culture, seen in the older woman’s fashio
nable clothes and the scene’s similarity
to popular advertisements of the day,11
operatein in fundamentallydierent
ways to express two divergent life ways.
Clothes
Themostobvious pointof dierencea
viewer notices is that of dress; Wood him
self originally called the painting Clothes
1 I rely here on Henry Glassie’s distinction bet
ween “folk” and “popular,” which emphasi
zes the role of an individual’s own tradition
in the form, construction, or use of an object
or expression. For Glassie, industrialization
and urbanization have been too widespread
in the U.S. for any pure folk culture to remain,
but he stresses that products can be partly
folk as long as they were produced apart from
popular or academic cultures. By popular, he
refers primarily to the normative, public cul
ture of the contemporaneous society.
DennispThe youngwoman
wearsanilling butfunctionalbrown
coatwithworngraytrimandasafetypin
fastener over a black dress or blouse with
whitecircleanddot motifsA red and
white, ribbed stocking cap covers her hair,
except for a few brown wisps above her
right cheek. Her only other accessory, a
largechickenwithmoledgoldengray
brown and white feathers, a yellow beak,
andredcombandwalesseemsalmost
beerairedinitscostumeofbreedmar
kingsSheseemspracticalliterallydown
toearthbut still shecasts asideways
glanceatthe blacksleeklystyledcloche
hat of her counterpart.
The older woman wears an ample brown
coatwiththickfurcollarandcusAdor
ned with a pearl earring on her left ear
and a silver hat pin on the hat’s front,
she clutches a black beaded bag between
herleftarmandherbodyherfurcus
extend beyond the painting’s edge so
that we cannot see her hands. She holds
herheadupherprolestraightahead
but her downcast eyes regard the bird,
apparently blind to the fact that she, too,
is being appraised.
The two women, opposite in the detail
oftheiraireaswellasintheirpositions
in the painting, seem emblematic of
opposing realms, worlds beyond them
selves. Wanda Corn (1983) has succinctly
summarized the binary oppositions in
thesewomensaireThesimplelinesof
the farm woman’s worn and misshapen
coatheldtogetherbyheronlyjewelrya
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