AMERICAN GOTHIC meets the Butler Family

American Gothic is such an iconic image. It's been used over and over again as a jumping off point for artists, advertisers, comedians, you name it. Even I once did a knock off showing a man and his dog.

Once in a while when sorting through old snapshots I find something that makes me think of the iconic image. There's just something in the photo that captures a bit of one interpretation of the painting; usually the oddness of it. Such is the case of this photo of the Butler family. It struck me as soon as I saw it, but once home and scanned I was surprised to see the resemblance to Grant Wood.

Think of this as just a study for the painting; the idea not yet fully fleshed out.

I give you the Butler family.

Mother Butler


Father Butler


Daughter Butler...

a Grant Wood lookalike?

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There is just something wonderfully odd about this family "portrait."

BILL BURRUD?

Last year I bought a box of photos that contained images of a woman named Gertrude Bowen and her son Arthur. I think the photos had probably belonged to Arthur. Many of the photos were severely damaged, but still interesting. This is one of the images from the damaged pile.


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I remember Bill Burrud doing some sort of travel or nature films that were shown on tv. Now, I have no idea if this is a photo of a young Bill Burrud with his family or if there is another reason this TV Guide clipping was stuck to the image. Doesn't make sense to me. The man looks like an insurance salesman, not an adventure seeker. Anyone have any ideas?

Poor MOMMA

Poor momma was never the same after seeing the squirrel staring back at her from the toilet bowl.


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To his dying day father claimed he had never seen the squirrel before.

When BABY TAKES WING

Here is a RPPC with no information given on the back. I call it "Baby Takes Wing." I can almost see the anxious bouncing, arms outstretched, ears/flaps up reading for crosswinds. Its little engine is revving knowing in just a moment it will be able to take flight across the studio and fly around and around up at the ceiling. Mother has other plans. Father is thinking that yes, it would be fun to fly. And the photographer? Oh, the poor photographer is wishing his day would be filled with sleeping nonmoving babies so that he wouldn't need to keep doing re-dos because the little dears are constantly blurred.

This is another image from Bert's collection.

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Fly baby, fly!!!