One of the major American Regionalist painters along with Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry, Grant Wood was born in Anamosa, Iowa, and spent his childhood in Cedar Rapids. Unlike Curry and Benton, he never moved East but remained in the Middle West where he found inspiration for his paintings of prosperous farms and people reflecting idealized American values.

However, his work was set apart from many regionalists in that provoked both laughter and social indignation. A good example Daughters of Revolution, 1932, depicting the aloof smugness of women who regarded themselves as emblematic of the country's founding values This painting was a retaliation by Wood against DAR member...