Since its inception in 1930, Grant Wood’s American Gothic still remains one of the most iconic American works of art. The instantly recognizable oil painting depicts a farmer and his daughter standing stoically in front of a farmhouse. It is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.
And during one hilarious sketch from Season 38: Saturday Night Live told the story of how the famous painting came to be… and why Wood took longer than he expected to create his masterpiece.
“American Gothic” from SNLIn the November 10, 2012 episode, Jason Sudeikis plays a man and host Anne Hathaway plays a woman, with Taram Killam providing the voiceover for artist Wood.
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SNL Season 38’s “American Gothic” features a man and woman who play a farmer and his daughter.
The sketch opens at the Chicago Museum, where a tour guide (Kenan Thompson) gives museum guests a brief history of the famous work. The sketch then cuts to a flashback scene, going back to the day Woods painted his two subjects in front of Carpenter’s impressive Gothic-style home.
As it turned out, his subjects were too sociable for his liking. In fact, Byron (Sudeikis) and Nan (Hathaway), who are not really related at all, as viewers quickly learn, turn out to be much more excited about participating in a portrait photo shoot than the artist expected.
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The sketch gives Sudekis and Hathaway plenty of opportunities to show off their wide-ranging comedic skills.
From the overly silly poses (“I’m a lizard. The kids love it,” says Nan Hathaway, constantly sticking her tongue out) to attempts to incorporate Nan’s cornhusk dolls into the frame (“She makes dolls out of corn, Grant!” announces a delighted Byron as Nan beams proudly), this scene lays claim to the craziest portrait session of all time.
The duo’s enthusiasm is impressive, and SNLThe live audience eats it up.
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Hathaway gets the biggest laugh in the sketch after her character reveals that her eyes are crossed (“When I take my glasses off, my eyes look like this,” she admits). But only when she looks in a certain direction, to the chagrin of the artist.
Even after they hand the farmer the pitchfork, the duo are all smiles; it’s a far cry from the final product that currently hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.
But eventually things take a dark turn.
“Hey Grant, buddy, how long do you think this will take?” – Byron asks innocently.
And it is then that Wood utters the words that cause Byron and Nan to take the famous dark poses that he immortalized on canvas. Watch “American Gothic” above and stream every episode Saturday Night Live on Peacock at any time.
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