Grant Wood is responsible for creating one of America’s greatest and most recognised icons – American Gothic. It is a painting that has been moving through popular culture for over seventy years. And yet, like many who have found fame through a single iconic creation, Wood and his remaining works have been greatly overlooked.

Take, for example, this piece – Spring in Town. Almost surreal in colour and composition, though entirely real in the tradition of Wood’s native land, this painting is typical of Wood’s fond interpretation of his home. Wood’s work belongs to Regionalism, an artistic movement associated mainly with Midwest America, with its scenes of agricultural and small-town living.

Yet, however deep Wood digs into the soil of his native Midwest, the entire world can relate to his home-grown scenes. Painted during the American depression, much of Wood’s work represents the hope and optimism of man in times of uncertainty. Spring and our reaction to its arrival is an optimism to which all artists and poets return time and time again. Wood’s Spring in Town is another perfect and charming example of this.