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\u201cAll the really good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow,\u201d reflected Grant Wood in 1936. And \u2013 whether bovine-inspired or not \u2013 arguably none of his ideas have been as good, nor had such an impact, as his 1930 work American Gothic<\/em>.<\/p>\n Dubbed the US answer to Mona Lisa<\/em>, American Gothic<\/em> is arguably one of the most parodied artworks in the world, lampooned in films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em>, and even starring in an episode of The Simpsons<\/em>. But what is it about this painting that has captured our imaginations for nearly a century?<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, American Gothic\u2019s<\/em> appeal lies in its sense of mystery and ambiguity,\u201d says Sarah Kelly Oehler, Field-McCormick chair and curator of arts of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago. \u201cFrom the identity of the sitters to Wood\u2019s reasons for painting it, the work has an intriguing narrative blankness that has allowed it to be re-envisioned in so many different ways.<\/p>\n \u201cWood deliberately cultivated this ambiguity \u2013 mostly because it was good publicity \u2013 staying vague as to whether the duo are husband and wife or father and daughter; it is these sorts of enduring questions that have helped drive the painting\u2019s popularity.\u201d<\/p>