'Grant Wood in Focus' is new Sheldon exhibit

"Grant Wood in Focus," an exhibit running through Oct. 2 in the Focus Gallery at the Sheldon Museum of Art, reveals tantalizing clues about the artist's sexual orientation.

Recently, scholars have reevaluated Grant Wood's art and life in light of his sexual orientation: a closeted gay man, the painter shaped his identity as a folksy regionalist in an effort to deflect any questions about his homosexuality, positioning himself as a manly antidote to the effete big city artist.

Organized by Brandon Ruud, Sheldon's curator of transnational American art, the show includes Wood's painting "Arnold Comes of Age" -- an audience favorite -- as well as a selection of prints that not only reveal the artist's choice of subjects, but his overall visual strategy during the height of his fame.

At 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8, author R. Tripp Evans will give a lecture as part of the exhibition. His 2010 biography, "Grant Wood: A Life," includes research that reassesses the artist's life and career.

The exhibition and accompanying programming are free and open to the public.

Sheldon Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects focusing primarily on American art. Sheldon, 12th and R streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus, is open free to the public during regular hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays. For information or to arrange a tour, call (402) 472-4524. Additional information is available on the Sheldon website, www.sheldonartmuseum.org.

WRITER: Sarah Baker-Hansen