Old Shoes in Grant Wood Painting Retold in East Iowa
In a 1930s Gazette Republican column Cedar Rapids society editor Geraldine Roberts recalls Grant Wood’s painting Old Shoes. The tale follows how wet shoes sparked a still life, how David Turner acquired the piece, and how Turner built a beloved collection of Wood works later loaned to exhibits and galleries in Chicago Hammond and beyond.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Eraldine Roberts
The
Gazette Republican
Grant Wood
Roberts
Cedar Rapids
Marvin Cone
David Turner
Grant
Grant Wood works linked to Turner in Iowa exhibits
Turner acquired a register as Davenport gallery hosted a 1940 show of 90 American artists including two Grant Wood paintings. After Wood died in 1942, Cedar Rapids Art Association staged a memorial exhibit in August with a planned October show at the Chicago Art Institute. The institute allowed American Gothic to travel to Cedar Rapids, joining Old Shoes. The Cedar Rapids show included up to 40 Wood works, 17 owned by David Turner. In 1972 Harriett and John B. Turner II donated over 84 Wood paintings and memorabilia to the Cedar Rapids Art Center, giving it the world’s largest Grant Wood collection.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hammond, Ind
Turner
David Turner
Grant Wood
Wood
Cedar Rapids Art Center
Donn Young
St. Emilion
Gazette
Davenport
John B. Turner
Chicago Art Institute
Cedar Rapids
Harriett
John B. Turner II
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
Also Mentioned on This Page
Iowa
Geraldine Roberts
the Gazette- Republican
Lakeside Press
Chicago
Hammond Woman’s Club
Oldshoes
Boston
Cone
Cowboy Crosby
Gazette Archives
D.famonlangton
Gmail
Thegazette.com
Cedar Rapids Art Association
Second Avenue
Secedar Rapids
Historycenter.org
HISTO
16Th Avenue South
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