Grant Wood lived a relatively normal life He was born on February 13th 1891 in Anamosa Iowa He lived a happy childhood up until when he was ten At that point early in his life his father died Shortly after the father s death Grant s mother moved Grant and his sister Nan to a place called Cedar Rapids In Cedar Rapids Grant attended grammar school and developed an interest in art Later on when attending high school Grant painted the sets for school plays and drew pictures of students When Wood graduated in 1910 he attended the Minneapolis School of Design In the next few years to pass Grant expanded his creativity by learning about making jewelry and creating furniture When he moved to Chicago in 1913 he did these things to make a living In 1916 Grant s mother became ill Grant then left Chicago and moved to Cedar Rapids to care for his mother There he became a teacher at a grammar school to support both his mother and his sister But this did not stop Grant s progress as an artist In the 1920s he visited Europe to study art done by the Impressionists and exhibited his own art in Paris He clearly was inspired by the Impressionists when he came back In 1928 in Germany Grant viewed the works of artists whose attention to detail and realistic portraits staggered his mind
