1998 32c Four Centuries of American Art: Grant Wood

US #3236q
1998 Grant Wood

• Shows detail from American Gothic
• From a pane featuring 20 art pieces produced by American artists
• Part of Classic Collection series

Stamp Category: Commemorative,
Set:  Four Centuries of American Art
Value: 32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: August 27, 1998
First Day City: Santa Clara, California
Quantity Issued: 4,000,000
Printed by: Sennett Security Products
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Pane of 20
Perforations: 10.2

Why the stamp was issued: This stamp is part of a pane highlighting 20 of the most important American works of art produced in the last 400 years.

About the stamp design: The stamps show details from 20 works. Howard Paine, a USPS art director, designed the layout for the pane.  He consulted with an expert on American art in choosing which paintings to include. Paine arranged the art in chronological order.

First Day City: The First Day of Issue ceremony took place at the opening event of Stampshow 98, which took place in Santa Clara, California.

About the Classic Collection series: The Classic Collections series began in 1994 with the Legends of the West issue.  The idea originated from Carl Burcham, manager of stamp and product marketing for USPS at the time.  Each Classic Collections set consists of a pane of 20 different semi-jumbo stamps with descriptive selvage at the top (header) and informational text on the back of each stamp beneath the gum.  The stamps are “broadly defined, Americana-themed subjects.”
The series began six years earlier with the infamous Legends of the West sheet in 1994. Each sheet in the series would have the same unique 20-stamp format.  Each would have broadly defined Americana themes, exceptional artwork, a banner printed on the selvage of the sheet, and descriptive text on the back of each stamp. Additionally, postal cards with matching artwork would be issued to coordinate with a few of the sheets.
In 1998, the sixth addition to the series honored four centuries of American Art.  The text on the back of the pane reads, “The American artists represented here were born in diverse places around this country, as well as elsewhere. Some were self-taught, others were academically trained…  These images … reflect some of the enduring themes in American visual arts: a concern with individuality in a democratic society, reverence for the variety of landscape across the continent, down-to-earth realism, and a recurring sense of optimism and energy.”

History the stamp represents:  Once a high school art teacher, Grant Wood (1892-1942) is recognized as one of the most important representatives of the artistic style of regionalism, which flourished in America in the 1930s. The majority of Wood’s paintings focused on the people and rural countryside typically seen in the Midwest. 
Wood studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, returning to his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1923. There his first major patron, a mortician, provided him with working and living space. In 1927, the local American Legion post commissioned Wood to do a stained-glass window for the group’s building. Because Wood knew little about stained glass, he traveled to Germany to seek an expert’s advice. The Legion was so annoyed by the fact that the window was constructed in Germany, they refused to accept it.
The wood-frame house featured in American Gothic, the artist’s best-known work, still stands in Eldon, Iowa. For the painting, Wood’s sister Nan posed as the woman, and the local dentist as her father. They are wearing period dress of the 1890s. Some experts say Wood was poking fun at the people of Iowa, others contend he was praising their virtues. American Gothic gained national attention when it won an award in Chicago in 1930.