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.
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): GRANT WOOD 1931
Mr. and Mrs. Cecil M. Gooch, Memphis (1931–50; their gift in 1950 to Y.W.C.A.); Y.W.C.A., Memphis (1950; sold through the Maynard Walker Gallery, New York to MMA)
Los Angeles Museum. "Twelfth Annual Exhibition by American Painters and Sculptors," March–April 1931.
Saint Louis. City Art Museum. "Twenty-sixth Annual Exhibition of Paintings by American Artists," September 19–November 1, 1931, no. 118 [possibly withdrawn early for Exh. Chicago 1931].
Art Institute of Chicago. "Forty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture," October 29–December 13, 1931, no. 213.
Art Institute of Chicago. "A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture 1934," June 1–November 1, 1934, no. 718 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Cecil M. Gooch, Memphis).
Chicago. Lakeside Press Galleries. "Loan Exhibition of Drawings and Paintings by Grant Wood," February–March 1935, no. 39 (lent by Mrs. C. M. Gooch, Memphis).
New York. Ferargil Galleries. "First New York Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Grant Wood," April 15–May 4, 1935, no. 39 (lent by Mrs. C. M. Gooch, Memphis, Tenn.).
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "The 1937 International Exhibition of Paintings," October 14–December 5, 1937, no. 18 (lent by Mrs. C. M. Gooch; not in competition).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Fifty-third Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture," October 29–December 10, 1942, no. 16 (as "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," lent by Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Gooch, Memphis) [shown in the "Grant Wood" memorial exhibition section].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnum. brochure (p. 12).
Los Angeles. Pan Pacific Auditorium. "National Construction Industries Home Show Exposition," June 14–24, 1951 [extended to August 31, 1951], no catalogue.
Hempstead, N. Y. Hofstra College. "Metropolitan Museum Masterpieces," June 26–September 1, 1952, brochure no. 55 (as "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere").
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids Art Association. "Grant Wood," November 3–December 1, 1955, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Junior Museum. "How to Look at Paintings," September 17, 1958–June 26, 1960, not in brochure.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Osaka. Japan World Exposition. "Images of America: American Painting," March 1–September 30, 1970.
Moscow. State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Representations of America," December 15, 1977–February 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "Representations of America," March 15–May 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Minsk, Belarus. Palace of Art. "Representations of America," June 15–August 15, 1978, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tribute to a Curator: Robert Beverly Hale," November 16, 1978–March 4, 1979, extended to March 18, 1979, unnum. checklist.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Grant Wood: The Regionalist Vision," June 16–September 4, 1983.
Minneapolis Institute of Art. "Grant Wood: The Regionalist Vision," September 29, 1983–January 1, 1984.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Grant Wood: The Regionalist Vision," January 21–April 15, 1984.
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Grant Wood: The Regionalist Vision," May 12–August 12, 1984.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection One: Twentieth-Century Art," February 1–April 30, 1985, no catalogue.
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 54).
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Landscape Painting," April 4–August 13, 1989, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1905–1950," April 19–October 7, 1991, no catalogue.
Omaha. Joslyn Art Museum. "Grant Wood: An American Master Revealed," December 10, 1995–February 25, 1996, no. 2.
Davenport, Iowa. Davenport Museum of Art. "Grant Wood: An American Master Revealed," March 23–September 8, 1996, no. 2.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1930-1940," April 9–September 8, 1996, no catalogue (on view through August 1, 1996).
Worcester, Mass. Worcester Art Museum. "Grant Wood: An American Master Revealed," October 6–December 31, 1996, no. 2.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "The American Century: Art and Culture, 1900–2000. Part 1: 1900–1950," April 23–August 22, 1999, unnumbered cat. (fig. 446).
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. "Grant Wood at 5 Turner Alley," September 9–December 4, 2005, no. 11.
Washington, D. C. Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. "Grant Wood's Studio: Birthplace of American Gothic," March 10–July 16, 2006, no. 11.
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "American Painting in the 1930s," October 15, 2016–January 30, 2017, no. 49.
Royal Academy of Arts, London. "America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s," February 25–June 4, 2017, no. 49.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables," March 2–June 10, 2018, unnumbered cat. (pl. 41).
New-York Historical Society. "Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere," September 6, 2019–January 12, 2020, no. 109 (as "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere").
Mary Powell. "American Life Typified in American Paintings at St. Louis." American Magazine of Art 23, no. 5 (1931), p. 432.
"Midwestern Art Gaining: Grant Wood Advises Artists Need Not Go East for Recognition." Nebraska State Journal (March 2, 1931), p. 6.
"Restraint Keynote of Paintings Shown at Annual Display." St. Louis Globe-Democrat (September 19, 1931), p. 5.
Eleanor Jewett. "American Exhibition at Institute." Chicago Daily Tribune (November 1, 1931), p. G4.
"Iowan's Art the Vogue." Kansas City Star (March 20, 1931).
"Paul Revere's Ride." St. Louis Mo. Star (September 19, 1931), ill.
"American Canvas Exhibit Here Has Modernistic Note." St. Louis Mo. Star (September 22, 1931).
"Grant Wood, Noted Cedar Rapids Painter Will Address Iowa Artists Club Here." Des Moines Sunday Register (April 5, 1931), ill.
Prudence Woollett. "Art." Saturday Night (March 28, 1931).
"Ravelings From the Communal Gauze." Iowa Stethoscope (August 21, 1931).
Boston Herald (November 22, 1931), ill.
Walter J. Sherwood. "Exhibition of American Art." Chicago Visitor (November 1931), ill.
C. J. Bulliet. "The Annual Exhibition at Chicago Art Institute." New York Times (November 8, 1931), p. XX12.
Katherine Kelley. "Husbands See Painting; Twit D.A.R. Wives." Chicago Daily Tribune (August 8, 1934), p. 1.
"Shippers Start Dismantling Art Exhibition Today." Chicago Daily Tribune (November 1, 1934), p. 3.
Nan Sheets. "Art Institute's 1934 Paintings Rank Equally with Earlier Exhibit." Daily Oklahoman (July 8, 1934), p. C4.
Adelin Hohlfeld. "Artist, Whose Work Aroused D.A.R. Judges Exhibit, Here." Capital Times (Madison, Wisc.) (November 12, 1934), p. 5.
Royal Cortissoz. "The Art Collection Organized for 'A Century of Progress'." New York Herald Tribune (June 3, 1934), ill. p. 8.
"Grant Wood Show Opens." New York Times (April 16, 1935), p. 19.
E [dward]. A [lden]. J [ewell]. "Grant Wood, Iowa Artist: His Collected Work at Ferargil Reveals Development of Painter From Youth." New York Times (April 21, 1935), p. X9, ill.
Edward Alden Jewell. "'Savage' Paintings by Kopman Shown... — Paintings by Grant Wood at Ferargil's." New York Times (April 9, 1935), p. 17.
H[elen]. A[ppleton]. R[ead]. "Grant Wood's Americana Seen at the Ferargil Galleries." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (April 28, 1935), ill. p. 33.
"Grant Wood's Pictures: An Auspicious Figure in Contemporary American Art." New York Herald Tribune (April 21, 1935), p. D10.
Pittsburgh Press (November 14, 1937), p. 8, ill.
Jerry Bywaters. "Contemporary American Artists..." Southwest Review 23 (April 1938), p. 303, calls it "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".
L. H. R. "American Scene." New York Times (February 22, 1942), ill. p. SM14.
Eleanor Jewett. "Institute Opens American Art Exhibit Today." Chicago Daily Tribune (October 28, 1942), p. 21.
"Art in the Museums." New York Herald Tribune (March 1, 1942), p. E8.
Robert Beverly Hale. 100 American Painters of the 20th Century: Works Selected from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1950, ill. p. 53.
"Pay $15,000 for Wood Painting." Des Moines Register (June 22, 1950), p. 3.
"Grant Wood Painting Bought for $15,000." New York Times (June 22, 1950), p. 25.
Doris Brian. "The Metropolitan's American Policy—A Long View, No Blind Flying." Art Digest 24 (July 1, 1950), p. 7.
"Grant Wood Painting Purchased by the Metropolitan Museum." New York Herald Tribune (June 22, 1950), p. 3, ill.
Arthur Millier. "Art Masterpieces Lent for Exhibit." Los Angeles Times (June 17, 1951), p. 11.
"Metropolitan Museum Paintings Being Displayed Here at City Hall." Lincoln Heights Bulletin News (Los Angeles) (July 5, 1951), p. 3.
Emily Genauer. "Art and Artists: Dealer Reminisces as Gallery Closes." New York Herald Tribune (July 5, 1953), p. D4.
Robert Beverly Hale. "American Painting 1754–1954." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12 (March 1954), pp. 180–81, ill. p. 189.
"As They Saw It: Three From the '30s." Time Magazine 63 (March 1, 1954), p. 72.
"Sidelines." New York Herald Tribune Sunday Magazine (April 11, 1954), p. 2, ill. (front cover, detail).
J[ames]. J. R[orimer]. "Notes." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 16 (Summer 1957), ill. front cover (color).
Alexander Eliot. Three Hundred Years of American Painting. New York, 1957, p. 218, ill. p. 216 (color), calls it "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".
Dorothy Adlow. "Metropolitan's New Look." Christian Science Monitor (October 26, 1957), p. 10.
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 97–98, ill.
Matthew Baigell. "Grant Wood Revisited." Art Journal 26 (Winter 1966–67), p. 120, fig. 6.
David Lowenthal. "The American Scene." Geographical Review 58 (January 1968), p. 78, fig. 9.
Sam Hunter and John Jacobus. American Art of the 20th Century: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York, 1973, fig. 292, calls it "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".
Matthew Baigell. The American Scene: American Painting of the 1930's. New York, 1974, p. 110, fig. 63.
Jane De Hart Mathews. "Grant Wood's Vision of the American Scene." Reviews in American History 4 (December 1976), p. 590.
Kathleen Howard, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 1983, p. 418, no. 17, ill. (color).
Wanda M. Corn. "The Birth of a National Icon: Grant Wood's 'American Gothic'." Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 10 (1983), p. 268.
Greta Berman. "Museum News. Grant Wood: The Regionalist Vision." Art Journal 43 (Winter 1983), p. 399, fig. 3 (reproduced with caption for fig. 2).
Grace Glueck. "Whitney Museum Offers a 2d Look at Grant Wood." New York Times (June 17, 1983), p. C21.
Graham Beale. "Reviews: Wanda M. Corn, 'Grant Wood: The Regionalist Vision'." Journal of American Studies 18 (August 1984), p. 297.
Calvin J. Goodman. "In Defense of Grant Wood." American Artist 48 (May 1984), p. 75.
Leonard Everett Fisher. Masterpieces of American Painting. New York, 1985, pp. 149, 221, no. 58, ill. pp. 148–49 (color).
Ross Woodrow in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 54, ill. (color).
William S. Lieberman. 20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 1, Painting: 1905–1945. New York, 1986, pp. 48–49, 63, ill. (color, overall and detail), calls it "The Ride of Paul Revere".
Elyse Topalian. "Modern Art in the Met." Apollo 124 (October 1986), p. 362, calls it "The Ride of Paul Revere".
Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 9, The United States of America. New York, 1987, p. 129, colorpl. 96.
Paul Richard. "Mixing It Up At the Metropolitan: Standards & Surprises at the Museum's New Wallace Wing." Washington Post (February 1, 1987), p. F8, calls it "The Ride of Paul Revere".
Karal Ann Marling. George Washington Slept Here: Colonial Revivals and American Culture 1876–1986. Cambridge, Mass., 1988, p. 360, fig. 11.29.
Alfred F. Young. "Exhibition Reviews: 'Paul Revere—Artisan, Businessman, and Patriot: The Man behind the Myth'." Journal of American History 76 (December 1989), p. 853.
Matthew Baigell inAmerican Art, 1930–1970. Exh. cat., Galleria Lingotto, Turin. Milan, 1992, p. 46, ill. p. 98 (color).
David Hackett Fischer. Paul Revere's Ride. New York, 1994, pp. 332–33, ill.
Stella Paul. Twentieth-Century Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Resource for Educators. New York, 1999, pp. 71–73, ill. (detail and bw) and ill. p. 70 (color), calls it "The Ride of Paul Revere".
Grant Wood's Studio: Birthplace of "American Gothic". Ed. Jane C. Milosch. Exh. cat., Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. New York, 2005, p. 105, colorpl. 11 and fig. 1 (in progress in the artist's studio, 1931).
Sue Taylor. "Wood's American Logic." Art in America 94 (January 2006), pp. 87, 90.
Maggie Riechers. "Art and the American Story." Humanities 28 (September/October 2007), pp. 8–9, ill. (color).
Sam Wineburg and Chauncey Monte-Sano. "'Famous Americans': The Changing Pantheon of American Heroes." Journal of American History 94 (March 2008), p. 1202.
R. Tripp Evans. Grant Wood : A Life. New York, 2010, pp. 142–46, 148, 401, colorpl. 15, calls it "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".
Sue Taylor. "Unmanning Grant Wood." ArtUS no. 31 (2011), p. 40.
Roberta Smith. "A Trans-Atlantic View of Modernism." New York Times (January 9, 2015), p. C30.
Jason Weems. Barnstorming the Prairies: How Aerial Vision Shaped the Midwest. Minneapolis, 2015, p. 158.
Judith A. Barter inAmerica after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. Ed. Judith A. Barter. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 2016, pp. 18, 187, no. 49.
Annelise K. Madsen inAmerica after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. Ed. Judith A. Barter. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 2016, pp. 105–7, fig. 18 (color).
John Ott. "The Warp and Woof of the Archive." Archives of American Art Journal 55 (Spring 2016), pp. 51–53.
Shirley Reece-Hughes in Barbara Haskell. Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2018, pp. 54–55, 57 n. 31.
Emily Braun in Barbara Haskell. Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2018, p. 73.
Barbara Haskell. Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2018, pp. 20, 23, 259, colorpl. 41.
Erika Doss. "Grant Wood's Queer Parody: American Humor during the Great Depression." Winterthur Portfolio 52 (Spring 2018), pp. 26, 31–32, figs. 2 (with the artist, in progress), 29 (color).
Roberta Smith. "Grant Wood at the Whitney Both Thrills and Disappoints." nytimes.com. March 15, 2018, ill. (color).
David Anfam. "Exhibitions. Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables." Burlington Magazine 160 (June 2018), p. 502.
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, ill. p. 52 (color).
Sue Taylor. Grant Wood's Secrets. Newark, Del., 2020, pp. 168, 170–71, 175, fig. 4.14 (color).
Grant Wood (American, Anamosa, Iowa 1892–1942 Iowa City, Iowa)
1941
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