The Figge Art Museum and the University of Iowa Libraries are pleased to announce the release of the Grant Wood Digital Collection (http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/
This unique digital collection includes more than 12 scrapbooks and albums of news clippings, photographs, postcards, letters, and related ephemera assembled by Grant Wood's sister Nan Wood Graham chronicling her brother's professional life.
For the first time, scholars, students and the general public will have unprecedented virtual access to the scrapbook materials. Due to their fragility, access to the actual scrapbooks is simply impossible.
"Nan Wood Graham is one of the most famous faces in the history of art, immortalized in Wood's iconic painting American Gothic. The materials Graham compiled provide wonderful insight into Wood's life in Iowa and his development as one of the most famous American artists of the 20th century," said Andrew Wallace, Figge Art Museum. "It is gratifying to know that, through this digital collection, people around world are able to learn about the life and times of Grant Wood through the words of close friends, family, and fellow artists."
This digital collection project would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the Henry Luce Foundation American Art Renewal Fund and through additional funding for imaging equipment provided by an anonymous donor.
These materials, along with several hundred artifacts, including the artist's wire-rimmed glasses, palettes, paint box, and easel, are part of the Figge Art Museum's Grant Wood Archive. The Archive has provided primary source material for numerous articles, catalogues, and monographs for over 40 years, most recently by R. Tripp Evans for his award-winning 2010 biography "Grant Wood - A Life."
The collection is the latest edition in the Iowa Digital Library, which features nearly a half million digital objects created from the holdings of The University of Iowa Libraries and its partners. Included are illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, fine art, political cartoons, scholarly works, and more. Digital collections are coordinated by Digital Research & Publishing.
The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport, Iowa at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, Sundays 12-5 p.m. and Thursdays 10 a.m. - 9p.m. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit our website, www.figgeartmuseum.org.
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