As far as American art goes, few paintings are as iconic as Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Fun fact: the couple depicted in the painting were modeled after Wood’s sister and dentist, pictured above posing next to the finished artwork. Did those two ever smile?
Via: Kottke
Picasso in his Cannes studio with model, 1955. Photo by Mark Shaw.
On Mondays when the museums are closed
and a handful of guards
look the other way
or read their newspapers
all of the figures
step out of golden frames
to stroll the quiet halls
or visit among old friends.
Picasso’s twisted ladies
rearrange themselves
to trade secrets
with the languid odalisques of Matisse
while sturdy Rembrandt men
shake the dust
from their velvet tams
and talk shop.
Voluptuous Renoir women
take their rosy children by the hand
to the water fountains
where they gossip
while eating Cezanne’s luscious red apples.
Even Van Gogh
in his tattered yellow straw hat
seems almost happy
on Mondays when the museums are closed.
by Marilyn Donnelly, from the Writer’s Almanac
