Artist: Grant Wood (American, 1891-1942)
Title: 36 Damm Strasse – Munich
Date: 1928
Accession #: 99.12.22
Medium: Oil on board
Dimensions: 19 3/4 x 22 in.
Acquired by: Dr. Randy Lengeling
About the Artist: In September of 1928, Grant Wood traveled to Munich. 36 Damm Strasse, painted in Munich and probably first exhibited in Cedar Rapids in 1929, is similar to dozens of paintings Wood produced on European subjects in the 1920s: a picturesque view of a distinctly European scene. He inevitably chose subjects that declared their “Europeanness,” just as he would later focus on “Americanness” after he developed his Regionalist version of American Scene painting. Knowing now what was ahead for Grant Wood, 36 Damm Strasse is an intriguing painting since we assume it was painted when he was struggling to re-define himself as an artist.