Near Sundown, Grant Wood

Episode 270 (revised Episode 25). I’m David Cateforis with another art minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. A work of art often tells a story. A story less frequently told is the past ownership of a work, known as its “provenance.” In some cases, a work’s provenance can be as interesting as the work itself. For instance, the original owner of the Spencer’s Grant Wood painting, “Near Sundown”, was the actress Katherine Hepburn. Shortly after Wood painted it in 1933, Hepburn purchased the work from the New York gallery of Maynard Walker, a Kansas City native known for his patronage of Midwestern artists. Hepburn later gave the painting to movie director George Cukor, who hung it in his dining room for many years. Hepburn even mentions the work in her autobiography, where she casts doubt over the gift of the painting to Cukor, declaring: “George loved it, so he took it.” Cukor, who earned an Oscar for directing “My Fair Lady” in 1965, loaned the work to the Spencer for its 1978 opening. The painting entered the permanent collection after his 1983 death. “Near Sundown” features the subtle, undulating hills of Grant Wood’s Iowa, but its circuitous journey to the Spencer provides an engaging tale behind the pigment. With thanks to Kate Meyer for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

Which famous actress once owned this painting? This painting, titled Near Sundown by Grant Wood, was once owned by the legendary Hollywood actress Katherine Hepburn.