Essay by Mary Feeney, Class of 2007

During the 1930s, a popular artistic genre emerged out of America's heartland. Grant Wood, along with other notable Midwestern artists, such as Thomas Hart Benton (web gallery 181) and John Steuart Curry, developed the idea of Regionalism for a country that was weak and torn apart by the Great Depression. Wood, as illustrated in Seed Time and Harvest, felt the need to portray an Agrarian myth—the need to work by hand. He refused to recognize the age of industry that was sweeping the nation. The Pointillist (Post-Impressionist dot application of paint) technique is evident in Seed Time and Harvest in his use of tiny dots to represent highlights and shadows that ultimately consume the entire work.

Wood's most famous painting, American Gothic, presents a sort of zoom-lens view of stereotypical Iowa farmers. In Seed Time and Harvest, however, we see his more typical genre scene framed within a Regionalist landscape. Wood created numerous works depicting the fertile rolling hills of the heartland and the labor needed to tend to those farms. As seen in this piece, he used simplified figures in order to achieve a sense of realism. On the whole, the composition seems rather plain, yet upon closer examination, the minute details in the grass, haystacks and corn become evident.

There is a deep sense of iconography rooted in this lithograph. Wood wanted the American people to understand the dignity of hard work that still survived in the rural communities of this country. At a time when many were moving to industrialized cities, he reminded Americans that there were still farmers who remained in the country and made their living through traditional manual labor.

Wood engaged his audience through his use of chiaroscuro (shading with light and shadow.) The presence of the haystacks is emphasized through the long shadows, indicating early morning or late afternoon, depending on the vantage point. The dark interior of the shed leaves the viewer pondering what might be inside. The shadows also perhaps allude to the idea of a long summer's day coming to an end, as if he is working from dawn until dusk, and must complete his tasks before the cold winds of winter blow.