The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Grant Wood
Anastasia Vasilyeva and Katya Pakhalova
Grant Wood, an American artist, dedicated his oeuvre to American legends that revolve around life in the countryside and concern American folklore. According to Larry Jordan, the publisher of “Midwest Today”, Wood and his followers, Midwest artists Thomas Hart Benton and John Steaurt Curry, created a peculiar style which is known as Regionalism. Grant Wood has become the most distinguished and eloquent representative of this painting style. Grant Wood, being a regionalist painter, extremely proud of his region, rejected abstract ideas in painting, asserting that "it is the depth and intensity of an artist's experience that are the first importance in art." His artworks are considered to depict idyllic rural surroundings. Nevertheless, the painting “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” stands out due to its historical and cultural context. In particular, the artist makes an allusion to historical events which took place during the American Revolution. It is a peculiar thing, that Grant Wood was inspired by the poem of Henry Wordsworth Longfellow “Paul Revere’s Ride” published in 1863, which the writer had devoted to the significant event happened on the evening of April 18, 1775. That is why we find it interesting to explore both the story of Paul Revere’s journey and the painting itself.
It seems logical to start with a brief account of events and description of Paul Revere’s ride as it contributes to the fully understanding of the piece. Paul Revere, an American patriot, being a member of the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, was sent by Joseph Warren, the president of the committee, from Boston to Lexington in order to spread the alarm and warn his fellow villagers of an inevitable onset by the British troop movements. The British troops were going to carry out an attack as there was a tension between the American colonies and the British government that was hard to reduce. Paul Revere managed to escape from being caught by the British military men, reached his destination that was Lexington and delivered his message. He risked his life without thinking about his own safety and stopped at every house to warn people about the coming danger as he cared about the countrymen. Soon he was accompanied by the other express riders, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott, who also had to warn all the countrymen about the coming British troops. Unfortunately they were arrested. Prescott and Dawes succeeded to escape immediately while Revere was kept for some time and then released. This midnight ride served as an example of Paul Revere’s courage, selflessness and patriotism. That is why Paul Revere is considered to be an American folk hero of his time, and his act of bravery became a source of inspiration for writers and artists such as Henry Wordsworth Longfellow and Grant Wood.
The masterpiece of art “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Grant Wood features the great scene of the past of America and focuses on the very ride of the national hero and the act of bravery. It’s needless to deny that the play of light and shadow is one of the main characteristics of the painting which affects the whole composition and makes it eye-catching. The contrasting colours and the peculiar composition of the painting contribute to the perspective. Moreover, the painter creates the effect of panoramic view using bird’s-eye perspective. Grant Wood uses light and shadow to create the impression of depth and give the illusion of distance. Due to the interplay of light and shadow the painting doesn’t seem flat. The far-off lights in the background show how deep the space in the painting is, and what a long journey Paul Revere has made.
Grant Wood uses deep, dark backgrounds for his painting. This painting presents extremely powerful and dramatic work of art due to the contrast between dark and light. Here, the bright yellow light in the windows contrasts with the small dark figures in the doorway. It helps us to understand the emotional content of the painting, especially tense atmosphere. Moreover, the dark background itself contrasts with the light foreground and it draws our attention to the main figure, Paul Revere, a rider on the horseback, who is placed in the center, near the most prominent constituent element of the painting - a church with the tall narrow steeple, illuminated by the light. This is how Grant Wood lays special emphasis on light and thus underlines the importance of the scene. The rider moves at all speed down the path, and he is at the base of the central point. The twisting road focuses our attention on the background, then on the foreground and on the background again. The viewers follow the direction of the rider and see the distant river which may serve an obstacle for the rider. However, the rider has already overcome all this long way through the village, and it makes us sure that he will reach his destination.
In spite of the fact that “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” is a historic piece, Grant Wood does not tend to be accurate. The viewers can notice that the village itself is extremely lit which is not natural for colonial times. Being a regionalist, Grant Wood used to focus on the positive aspects of town life and avoid gloomy atmosphere. Thus the painting does not seem depressive despite of the darkness of the midnight time. The aim of Grant Wood was probably to encourage viewers of Depression-era with the help of his painting.
Having analyzed the painting “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Grant Wood, we came to the conclusion, that the Americans regard historical events with reverence, and this fact could not but had an impact on the oeuvre of outstanding and remarkable artists and painters.
Works Cited
Jordan, Larry. “Grant Wood Revisited”. A List Apart: Midwest Today. A List Apart Mag., April/May. 1996. Web. 1 May 2011.
Merrill, Linda, and Liza Rogers, and Linda Simmons. Picturing America. Sparks: Schmitz Press, 2008. Print.
Peltakian, Danielle. "Grant Wood. American Regionalist". sullivangoss.com. sullivangoss, n.d. Web. 1 May 2011.
“The Real Story of Revere’s Ride”. paulreverehouse.org. paulreverehouse, n.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011.
“Why Do We Remember Revere? Paul Revere’s Ride in History and Literature”. edsitement.neh.gov. edsitement, n.p. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 May 2011.
