The Coe College art collection in Cedar Rapids will be missing some key pieces for a few months early next year.
Three Grant Wood paintings are going on loan to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. They will be included in a larger show of the Iowa artist’s work centered on his most well-known piece, “American Gothic.” The director of galleries and collections at Coe, Ranelle Knight-Lueth, says they were once panels in a giant mural that hung in a Cedar Rapids hotel coffee shop.
“They’re really large, beautiful Grant Wood paintings that do embody Iowa in many ways, and also, in a way, they’re moveable murals,” Knight-Lueth says. The three Grant Wood paintings of farm life come from a collection called “The Fruits of Iowa.” Preparing to move the pieces is a big task.
“Headaches, excitement, anxiety, all sorts of things. What goes into this process is months and months, dare I say even years, of planning,” Knight-Lueth said. The Grant Wood painting will be at the Whitney from March 2nd to June 10th.
The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art is loaning 27 pieces for the show.
(Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)