Grant Wood’s American Gothic now is part of the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. Inspiration for the painting came from a Gothic Revival-style cottage in Eldon, Iowa, coupled with “the kind of people I fancied should live in that house.” Shown is a farmer and his spinster daughter. Not only is it one of the most familiar images in 20th century American art and one of the most parodied artworks in U.S. popular culture. The female in the painting is Wood’s sister Nan, and the man is modeled on his dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby, of Cedar Rapid, Iowa.