This is the 3rd in a series of Friday Footnotes on The Art of Agriculture written by Jim Connors of South Dakota State University. In the first two footnotes in this series, he looked at agriculture artwork prior to 1900, and FFA artwork created for the Official FFA Calendar program. This footnote will look at agriculture artworks throughout the 20th century. Welcome back Jim.
If you visit any art gallery, poster store, or county/state fair, you will probably see agriculture themed artwork for sale. This footnote will introduce you to some famous artists and some you may not know but have probably seen.
Grant Wood – Iowa
Figure 1. Grant Wood with painting “Weiner Elementary”
One of the most famous 20th century artists was Grant Wood. Wood was born in 1891 in Anamosa, Iowa. He was “a self- proclaimed ‘farmer-painter’ who never farmed” (Evans, 2010, p. 4). He began his painting career during a period known as the Golden Age of Rural America. It was said that “…to love Wood’s work was equivalent to loving America itself” (p. 7). Wood is most famous for the painting American Gothic (1930). However, he produced many other paintings more closely related to agriculture across the heartland of midwestern America. Some of Wood’s paintings include:
- · Adoration of the Home (1921-1922)
- · Stone City (1930)
- · Young Corn (1931)
- · Fall Plowing (1931)
- · Farmer with Corn and Pigs (1932)
- · Spring Turning (1936)
Figure 2: Young Corn (Grant Wood, 1931) and Figure 3: Fall Plowing (Grant Wood, 1931)
Harvey Dunn – South Dakota
Figure 3. Harvey Dunn
Until I moved to South Dakota in 2023, I had never heard of Harvey Dunn. However, if you live in South Dakota, you quickly learn about this native son and his iconic paintings of life on the northern great plains. Harvey Dunn was born in 1884 on a homestead farm near Manchester, South Dakota. Coincidentally, Manchester was only a few miles from De Smet, the childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie books. Dunn attended South Dakota Agriculture College (now South Dakota State University) in 1901-1902. During his career, Dunn painted many scenes of pioneers on the great prairies of South Dakota. Several of these paintings are now displayed in the South Dakota Art Museum on the SDSU campus in Brookings.
Figure 4: The Prairie is My Garden (Harvey Dunn, 1950) and Buffalo Bones Plowed Under (Harvey Dunn, 1930)
Terry Redlin – Minnesota & South Dakota
You may not know his name, but you most certainly have seen his paintings. Walk in any gift shop and you will probably see prints, puzzles, coffee mugs, etc. with images painted by Terry Redlin. If you are ever traveling through eastern South Dakota, I would recommend visiting the Redlin Art Center in Watertown, SD.
Figure 5. The Redlin Art Center contains hundreds of original artworks by Terry Redlin. Redlin’s paintings cover a wide range of rural American scenes such as small towns, lakes, churches, wildlife, and farms.
Figure 6: Above the Fruited Plain Grain Elevator (Terry Redlin) and The Homestead (Terry Redlin)
Charles Freitag – Iowa
Visit any county or state fair and you will most likely find a booth/tent selling agriculture artwork featuring John Deere green or International Harvester red equipment. These paintings depict agriculture work including harvest, planting, equipment repair, etc. Many of these pieces of artwork can be attributed to Charles Freitag. Freitag is another product of Iowa. Born and raised on a small farm, he attended Hawkeye Community College and the Academy of Art in Chicago. Charles Freitag’s art can be seen and purchased on his website The Art of Charles Freitag at www.freitagart.com or at Wildlifeprints.com.
Figure 7: Out to Pasture and Harvest Time (Charles Freitag)
Figure 8: The Friday Footnote Curator’s Favorite Freitag Painting
Dave Barnhouse – Ohio
Another modern painter who is known for agriculture and tractor-themed paintings is Dave Barnhouse. Barnhouse was born, raised, and still lives in Richmond, Ohio. His complete art catalog can be seen at https://davebarnhouseart.com/.
Figure 9. Common Ground by Dave Barnhouse
Conclusions
These five artists have spanned the breadth of the 20th century. They have all chosen a wide variety of rural America and agriculture scenes to paint. One, Grant Wood, is known around the world for his famous American Gothic painting. Dunn and Redlin are famous across the Midwest for their paintings of life on the farm and the hardships many settlers endured. Modern day artists like Freitag and Barnhouse, while not known by name, are famous for painting 20th century agriculture scenes and modern agriculture equipment. No matter which artist you prefer, they all have added to the wealth of agriculture artwork that hangs in art museums, galleries, or homes across America.
References
A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art (n.d.). Harvey Thomas Dunn: 1884-1952. https://armitchellmuseum.com/harveydunn
Evans, R. T. (2010). Grant Wood: A life. New York: Knopf
Dave Barnhouse Fine Art (2025). The art of Dave Barnhouse: Painter of rural America. https://davebarnhouseart.com
Harvey Dunn (n.d.) In Wikipedia.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Dunn
The Art of Charles Freitag (n.d.). http://www.freitagart.com/index.html