Artist: Grant Wood (American, 1891-1942)
Title: Midnight Alarm
Date: 1939
Accession #: 99.12.13
Medium: Lithograph on paper
Dimensions: 12 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.
Acquired by: Dr. Randy Lengeling
About the Artist: In many of Grant Wood’s lithographs and drawings, there surfaces a dry humor in several depictions of his subject matter. For example, in this 1939 lithograph, Wood found amusement with the idea of long underwear. The face of the man descending the stairs seems alert and ready to act as his ominous shadow follows him down the staircase. However, there is a sense of vulnerability about the man as Wood has chosen to comically depict him in his long underwear. (from: Milosch, Jane C., ed. Grant Wood’s Studio Birthplace of American Gothic. Munich: Prestel, 2005. Print.)