A local historian is displaying his collection of original pieces from one of the nation’s most iconic artists and an Iowa native for the last time this month.

Michael Zahs’ collection of Grant Wood works is on display at Hills Bank in Washington until June 1st for the public to view for free, “It has over 30 signed pieces by Grant Wood and many of the things in the display were his sister Nan’s and she was the model for American Gothic. And there’s a lot of examples of his work. He did 19 lithographs, I think there are 13 signed lithographs in the collection. There are five paintings that were recently displayed in Kalona but that’s the first time they’ve been displayed, so they’re displayed here and those are original paintings by Grant Wood.”

Zahs has cultivated his collection since the early 1990’s, whether by purchasing from auction houses, or given directly from Woods’ family. The public can visit Hills Bank during business hours to view Zahs’ last anticipated installation of the collection, and if you’re lucky enough, while you’re there you might hear further tales from Zahs himself about the Anamosa native who passed away one day before his 51st birthday in 1942.