Paint the town red...

Grant Wood painted American Gothic in 1930. The inspiration came from a cottage in Eldon, Iowa designed in the Gothic Revival style.
Wood then decided to paint the house with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house." The painting shows a farmer standing beside a woman whose identity remains ambiguous; she may either be his daughter or the farmer's wife. The painting was first entered in a competition at The Institute and was deemed laughable, but eventually awarded $300. The Art Institute eventually purchased the painting which still resides there. The image was printed in The Chicago Evening Post but spurred controversy with Iowans who claimed Wood made a parody of them as the wife or daughter is depicted as half the gentleman's age. To this day, we do not know if the lady was a wife, daughter or acquaintance.