Honorary Degree

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Artist Grant Wood (American, 1891–1942)

Title Honorary Degree

Date 1937

Medium Lithograph on paper

Dimensions Image: 12 x 7 in. (30.5 x 17.8 cm)
Sheet: 16 x 11 3/4 in. (40.6 x 29.8 cm)

Credit Line Bequest of Herman B Wells, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2006.406

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About this Work

This print features a self-portrait of the artist as the central figure receiving the hood and diploma, perhaps in reference to his honorary doctorate in 1936 from the University of Wisconsin. Chosen by Grant Wood as his exhibition entry in the 1939 New York World's Fair, it also suggests an attempt by the Regionalist artist-whose works were often attacked by critics as "provincial" and whose lack of academic credentials was questioned by his fellow faculty at the University of Iowa-to be taken seriously as an artist and educator. Its academic subject must have appealed to IU Chancellor Herman B Wells who had it in his Owen Hall office until his death.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

Publisher Associated American Artists
Printer George C. Miller (New York)

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"Honorary Degree | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2006.406