At 25 feet high and 14×14 feet at its base and weighing in at 30,000 pounds, there was no Midwestern reserve to be found in this celebrated and much parodied Iowa couple inspired by Grant Wood’s American Gothic and towering over the museum for almost 3 years. Seward Johnson took the famous duo from one of the most iconic paintings in art history and literally amplified them to gigantic proportions. No shrinking violets, this pair! They dominated the museum landscape inspiring viewers to recollect a gentler, less complicated (albeit idealized) past and pose for a fun photo op!
Johnson is well-known for his realistic sculptures found in many outdoor venues across the country and his Beyond the Frame series where he brilliantly re-creates Impressionist paintings into 3D sculptural scenes where you can actually walk among the figures and objects in the paintings. The sculpture has travelled throughout the United States but this was its first time in Iowa, the home state of Grant Wood.