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The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Grant Wood American
1931
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 757
Here, Wood depicts the legendary story of the American patriot Paul Revere, as learned from an 1863 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. From a bird’s-eye view, the painting shows Revere on horseback racing through a colonial town square in Massachusetts. Despite the work’s historical subject matter, Wood did not attempt to depict the scene with factual accuracy. The houses are overly bright, as if lit by electric light, and the dramatic moonlight casts unrealistic shadows. The stylized houses, geometric greenery, and high perspective give the painting an otherworldly or dreamlike dimension.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
  • Artist: Grant Wood (American, Anamosa, Iowa 1892–1942 Iowa City, Iowa)
  • Date: 1931
  • Medium: Oil on Masonite
  • Dimensions: 30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950
  • Object Number: 50.117
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

Audio

Cover Image for 1950. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

1950. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

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