Author Profile: Barbara Feller sheds light on Grant Wood’s Veterans Memorial Window

Grant Wood is famous for painting “American Gothic,” but local historian Barbara Feller of Robins, who worked for many years as the lead educator at Grant Wood’s Studio at 5 Turner Alley in Cedar Rapids, argues that Wood’s most important work of art is hiding in plain sight, right in the middle of the city.

In her new book, “Grant Wood’s Memorial Masterpiece,” Feller tells the story of how Wood created the stained-glass window that is permanently housed in the Veterans Memorial Building, 50 Second Ave. Bridge, Cedar Rapids. And how this commission led him to develop the kind of art and style that we recognize as his today.

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There were problems and scandals along the way. The first being that Wood “didn’t have a clue how to make stained glass,” Feller said in a recent interview.

“But he loved any kind of art — he’d try anything. And he was very patriotic. When he heard that there was going to be this Veterans building going up in Cedar Rapids, he applied for the commission to make the window in it.”

This was not just any window. Spanning 24 feet high and 20 feet wide, this masterpiece honors veterans from the six wars American had fought in at the time the window was completed in 1928.

Research

Once Wood was granted the commission, he immediately traveled to New York to begin researching the uniforms from the different wars. It was “very important” to Wood that the uniforms were meticulously detailed and realistic.

Wood traveled to various museums and consulted records about the history of the six wars, particularly the uniforms worn by soldiers. Using his trusty sketchbook, he made sketches based on the drawings he found in the history books.

Feller was “compulsive” with her research, and uncovered illustrated books that would have been available during the time period when Wood was doing his research. She then compared illustrations in these books with Wood’s sketches.

Regarding the Revolutionary War soldier featured in the window, for example, she uncovered the original historical illustration that Wood used for inspiration, and includes it in the book alongside Wood’s initial sketch.

“If that’s not the exact same thing — I’ll eat my hat,” Feller said.

While Feller was conducting research on Wood’s artistic process, she also decided to investigate the original models for each of the figures in the window.

Six soldiers are at the bottom of the window, and the Lady of Peace hovers over them, 16 feet tall.

“He didn’t want (the faces) to be anybody that you could recognize, so he was just kind of trying to combine faces.”

In “Grant Wood’s Memorial Masterpiece,” she solves the mystery behind Wood’s sources of inspiration and shares details about each of the models, including the story behind the soldier from the War of 1812 — the one wearing a distinctive red pom-pom hat.

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Sketches

But before Wood painted the image on glass, he first made a life-size sketch. And, according to Feller, the only location large enough to accommodate him and these “huge, huge drawings” was at Quaker Oats.

“It’s hard to tell how many of these things are apocryphal, but there’s a story that that’s when he started wearing overalls. Because he wanted to match in with the workers. He didn’t want them to think he was a fancy artist guy.”

The drawings were on paper and, when Wood finished, they were rolled up.

“And, in 1972, a custodian found them in some heating ducts. You couldn’t make this up, right?”

Controversy

Feller also uncovered why this window — which is so enormous and so beautiful — isn’t a well-known work of art.

At the time that Grant was working on the window, the best glass artisans in the world were in Munich. So Wood traveled to Germany to oversee the production.

“There were groups that were opposed to the fact that he’s doing it for veterans of our wars and the most recent war — WWI — had been fought against Germany,” Feller said.

Wood finished his window in 1928 and, because of the uproar about his collaboration with German artisans, “they never dedicated it or set up any kind of special event for it or anything,” Feller said.

“When they opened the building, they made a pamphlet for people to see what was new in the building and it didn’t include the window. It was just insane how they did this, how they refused to do anything about it because they thought it was unpatriotic to go to Germany.”

Wood’s time in Germany, however, would prove to be transformative to his artistic style.

“Up until this point he was trying to follow Impressionist painters, but he wasn’t pleased with the results,” Feller said.

By learning to paint on glass — a new, detailed technique — Wood began to grow as an artist.

Two years later, in 1930, Wood painted “American Gothic” and became famous. But the window in the Veterans Memorial Building still was ignored.

“It was 1955 by the time they got it dedicated,” Feller explained. “People in Cedar Rapids don’t know anything about it.”

“Grant Wood’s Memorial Masterpiece” is Feller’s third book. Her first, “The Road to Waubeek: Discovering Jay G. Sigmund,” is about a local poet who was a friend of Grant Wood. Her second book, “Grant Wood: The Creation of An Artist,” is about Wood’s early life, based on his unpublished memoir.

“I think the reason I had to write (this book) is because I want — especially children — to learn our history.”

“It’s really important for people to have a pride in our area.”