Thomas Hart Benton (April 15, 1889 – January 19, 1975) was an American
painter,
muralist
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
, and
printmaker. Along with
Grant Wood and
John Steuart Curry
John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...
, he was at the forefront of the
Regionalist art movement. The fluid, sculpted figures in his paintings showed everyday people in scenes of life in the United States.
His work is strongly associated with the
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
, the region in which he was born and which he called home for most of his life. He also studied in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
for more than 20 years and painted scores of works there, summered for 50 years on
Martha's Vineyard off the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
coast, and also painted scenes of the
American South and
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
.
Early life and education
Benton was born in
Neosho, Missouri
Neosho (; originally or ) is the most populous city in Newton County, Missouri, United States, which it serves as the county seat. With a population of 12,590 as of the 2020 census, the city is a part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Stat ...
, into an influential family of politicians. He had two younger sisters, Mary and Mildred, and a younger brother, Nathaniel.
His mother was Elizabeth Wise Benton and his father, Colonel
Maecenas Benton
Maecenas Eason Benton (January 29, 1848 – April 27, 1924) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri. He was the father of Thomas Hart Benton, who gained fame as a painter of the American Scene.
Biography
Born near Dyersburg, Tennessee, Bent ...
, was a lawyer and four times elected as
U.S. congressman. Known as the "little giant of the
Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
", Maecenas named his son after his own great-uncle,
Thomas Hart Benton, one of the first two
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
s elected from Missouri.
Given his father's political career, Benton spent his childhood shuttling between
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and Missouri. His father sent him to
Western Military Academy in 1905–06, hoping to shape him for a political career. Growing up in two different cultures, Benton rebelled against his father's plans. He wanted to develop his interest in art, which his mother supported. As a teenager, he worked as a cartoonist for the ''Joplin American'' newspaper, in
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in Jasper and Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. Joplin is the largest city located within both Jas ...
.
With his mother's encouragement, in 1907 Benton enrolled at
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew ...
. Two years later, he moved to Paris in 1909 to continue his art education at the
Académie Julian. His mother supported him financially and emotionally to work at art until he married in his early 30s. His sister Mildred said, "My mother was a great power in his growing up."
In Paris, Benton met other North American artists, such as the Mexican
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
and
Stanton Macdonald-Wright
Stanton Macdonald-Wright (July 8, 1890 – August 22, 1973), was a modern American artist. He was a co-founder of Synchromism, an early abstract, color-based mode of painting, which was the first American avant-garde art movement to receive inte ...
, an advocate of
Synchromism. Influenced by the latter, Benton subsequently adopted a Synchromist style.
Early career and World War I
After studying in Europe, Benton moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1912 and resumed painting. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he served in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
and was stationed at
Norfolk, Virginia. His war-related work had an enduring effect on his style. He was directed to make drawings and illustrations of shipyard work and life, and this requirement for realistic documentation strongly affected his later style. Later in the war, classified as a "
camoufleur", Benton drew the camouflaged ships that entered Norfolk harbor. His work was required for several reasons: to ensure that U.S. ship painters were correctly applying the camouflage schemes, to aid in identifying U.S. ships that might later be lost, and to have records of the ship camouflage of other
Allied navies. Benton later said that his work for the Navy "was the most important thing, so far, I had ever done for myself as an artist."
Marriage and family
At the age of 33, Benton married Rita Piacenza, an Italian immigrant, in 1922. They met while Benton was teaching art classes for a neighborhood organization in New York City, where she was one of his students. They were married for almost 53 years until Benton's death in 1975; Rita died eleven weeks after her husband. The couple had a son, Thomas Piacenza Benton (1926-2010), and a daughter, Jessie Benton, born in 1939, who became a major figure in the Fort Hill Community founded by
Mel Lyman; Benton himself was identified as a "benefactor" to the community, giving them "dozens of paintings".
Later career
Dedication to Regionalism
On his return to New York in the early 1920s, Benton declared himself an "enemy of modernism"; he began the naturalistic and representational work today known as
Regionalism. He toured America, making sketches and ink wash drawings of the things he saw. He would go back to these sketches again and again as reference for future paintings. He expanded the scale of his Regionalist works, culminating in his ''
America Today
''America Today'' is a mural comprising ten canvas panels, painted with egg tempera in 1930–1931 by the American painter Thomas Hart Benton. It provides a panorama of American life throughout the 1920s, based on Benton's extensive travels in th ...
'' murals at the
New School for Social Research in 1930–31. In 1984, the murals were purchased and restored by AXA Equitable to hang in the lobby of the
AXA Equitable Tower at 1290 Sixth Avenue in New York City. In December 2012 AXA donated the murals to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. The Met's exhibition "Thomas Hart Benton's 'America Today' Mural Rediscovered" ran until April 19, 2015. The murals were described as showing how Benton absorbed and used the influence of the Greek artist
El Greco.
Benton broke through to the mainstream in 1932. A relative unknown, he won a commission to paint the murals of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
life planned by the state in the 1933
Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
Exhibition in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. The ''Indiana Murals'' stirred controversy; Benton painted everyday people, and included a portrayal of events in the state's history which some people did not want publicized. Critics attacked his work for showing
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members in full regalia.
The KKK reached its peak membership in 1925. In Indiana, 30% of adult males were estimated to be members of the Klan, and in 1924 KKK members were elected as governor, and to other political offices.
These mural panels are now displayed at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
in
Bloomington, with the majority hung in the "Hall of Murals" at the Auditorium. Four additional panels are displayed in the former University Theatre (now the Indiana Cinema) connected to the Auditorium. Two panels, including the one with images of the KKK, are located in a lecture classroom at Woodburn Hall.
[.]
In 1932, Benton also painted ''The Arts of Life in America'', a set of large murals for an early site of the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
. Major panels include ''Arts of the City'', ''Arts of the West'', ''Arts of the South'' and ''Indian Arts''. In 1953 five of the panels were purchased by the
New Britain Museum of American Art
The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art.
A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 200 ...
in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, and have since been displayed there.
On December 24, 1934, Benton was featured on one of the earliest color covers of
''Time'' magazine. Benton's work was featured along with that of fellow Midwesterners
Grant Wood and
John Steuart Curry
John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...
in an article entitled "The U.S. Scene". The trio were featured as the new heroes of American art, and Regionalism was described as a significant art movement.
In 1935, after he had "alienated both the left-leaning community of artists with his disregard for politics and the larger New York-Paris art world with what was considered his folksy style",
[.] Benton left the artistic debates of New York for his native Missouri. He was commissioned to create a mural for the
Missouri State Capitol in
Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...
. A ''Social History of Missouri'' is perhaps Benton's greatest work. In an interview in 1973, he said, "If I have any right to make judgments, I would say that the Missouri mural was my best work". As with his earlier work, controversy arose over his portrayal of the state's history, as he included the subjects of
slavery in the history of Missouri, the Missouri outlaw
Jesse James, and the political boss
Tom Pendergast. With his return to Missouri, Benton embraced the Regionalist art movement.
He settled in
Kansas City and accepted a teaching job at the
Kansas City Art Institute
The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. It has approx ...
. This base afforded Benton greater access to rural America, which was changing rapidly. Because of his
Populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
political upbringing, Benton's sympathy was with the working class and the small farmer, unable to gain material advantage despite the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. His works often show the melancholy, desperation and beauty of small-town life. In the late 1930s he created some of his best-known work, including the allegorical nude ''
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...
''. It was considered scandalous by the Kansas City Art Institute, and was borrowed by the showman
Billy Rose, who hung it in his New York nightclub, the Diamond Horseshoe.
It is now held by the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art.
In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...
in Kansas City. Karal Ann Marling, an art historian, says it is "one of the great works of American pornography."
In 1937, Benton published his autobiography ''An Artist in America'', which was critically acclaimed. The writer
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...
said of it: "Here’s a rare thing, a painter who can write." During this period Benton also began to produce signed, limited-edition
lithographs
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
, which were sold at $5.00 each through the
Associated American Artists Galleries based in New York.
Teaching career
Benton's autobiography indicates that his son was enrolled from age 3 to 9 at the
City and Country School in New York in exchange for his teaching art there. He included the school's founder,
Caroline Pratt, in
City Activities with Dance Hall, one of the ten panels in ''America Today''.
Benton taught at the
Art Students League of New York from 1926 to 1935 and at the
Kansas City Art Institute
The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. It has approx ...
from 1935 to 1941. His most famous student,
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...
, whom he mentored in the Art Students League, founded the
Abstract Expressionist movement. Pollock often said that Benton's traditional teachings gave him something to rebel against. With another of his students,
Glen Rounds, who went on to become a prolific author and illustrator of children's books, Benton spent a summer touring the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
in the early 1930s. In the 1930s Benton taught at the
Ste. Genevieve Art Colony in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.
Benton's students in New York and Kansas City included many painters who contributed significantly to American art. They included Pollock's brother
Charles Pollock
Charles Cecil Pollock (December 25, 1902, in Denver, Colorado - May 8, 1988, in Paris) was an American abstract painter and the eldest brother of artist Jackson Pollock.
Biography
Pollock was born on December 25, 1902, in Denver, Colorado. He ...
,
Eric Bransby,
Charles Banks Wilson,
Frederic James,
Lamar Dodd,
Reginald Marsh,
Charles Green Shaw,
Margot Peet,
Jackson Lee Nesbitt,
Roger Medearis,
James Duard Marshall
James Duard Marshall (September 29, 1914 – January 26, 2010) was a painter, lithographer, museum director, and art conservator who lived most of his life in Kansas City. Duard ronounced "doo-erd"was a student of Thomas Hart Benton and is b ...
,
Glenn Gant,
Fuller Potter, William Fredrick Kautzman, and
Delmer J. Yoakum. Benton also briefly taught
Dennis Hopper at the Kansas City Art Institute; Hopper was later known for being an independent actor, filmmaker, and photographer.
Later life
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Benton created a series titled ''The Year of Peril'', which portrayed the threat to American ideals by
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
. The prints were widely distributed.
Following the war, Regionalism fell from favor, eclipsed by the rise of
Abstract Expressionism.
Benton remained active for another 30 years, but his work included less contemporary social commentary and portrayed pre-industrial farmlands.
Benton was hired in 1940, along with eight other prominent American artists, to document dramatic scenes and characters during the production of the film ''
The Long Voyage Home
''The Long Voyage Home'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell and Ian Hunter. It features Barry Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson, John Qualen, Mildred Natwick, and Ward Bond, among others.
The f ...
'', a cinematic adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's plays. Benton was also an accomplished harmonica musician, recording an album for
Decca Records in 1942 titled ''Saturday Night at Tom Benton's''.
He continued to paint murals, including ''Lincoln'' (1953), for
Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri; ''Trading At Westport Landing'' (1956), for The River Club in Kansas City; ''Father Hennepin at
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
'' (1961) for the Power Authority of the State of New York; ''
Joplin at the Turn of the Century'' (1972) in
Joplin; and ''
Independence and the Opening of the West'', for the
Harry S. Truman Library in
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
. His commission for the Truman Library mural led to his developing a friendship with
Harry S. Truman that lasted until the former U.S. President's death.
Benton died in 1975 at work in his studio, as he completed his final mural, ''The Sources of Country Music'', for the
Country Music Hall of Fame in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
.
Legacy and honors
Benton was elected into the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...
in 1954 as an Associate member and became a full member in 1956. In 1961, Benton was chosen as one of 50 outstanding Americans of meritorious performance in the fields of endeavor, to be honored as a Guest of Honor to the first annual Banquet of the Golden Plate in
Monterey, California. Honor was awarded by vote of the National Panel of Distinguished Americans of the
Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
.
In 1977, Benton's 2 story
late-Victorian residence and carriage house studio in
Kansas City was designated by Missouri as the
Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site. The historic site has been preserved nearly unchanged from the time of his death; clothing, furniture, and paint brushes are still in place. Displaying 13 original works of his art, the
house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...
is open for guided tours. Benton was the subject of the eponymous 1988 documentary, ''
Thomas Hart Benton'', directed by
Ken Burns and produced by
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded on-air as GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship property of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns Boston's se ...
.
In December 2019, a lawsuit was filed by Benton's daughter, Jessie, her son, and her two daughters against the
UMB Bank, a trustee of the Benton Trusts and manager of Benton's estate since 1979: "More than a hundred paintings gone, priceless works of art stored in subpar conditions, paintings sold for fire sale prices - those are the allegations put forward by a new lawsuit filed by the heirs of famous American artist Thomas Hart Benton." The bank did not directly respond to the specific allegations in the lawsuit but characterized them as misguided. The bank's president, Jim Rine, said that it regrets that the Bentons chose to resolve the issue through litigation and that the bank takes its role as trustee of Benton's art very seriously.
Writings
*.
*.
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Europe After 8:15'' –
H.L. Mencken—1914
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Schoolhouse in the Foothills'' – Ella Enslow—1937
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Tom Sawyer'' – Mark Twain—1939
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Grapes of Wrath'' – John Steinbeck—1940
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Huckleberry Finn'' – Mark Twain—1941
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Taps for Private Tussie'' – Jesse Stuart—1943
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography & Other Tales'' —1944
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Life on the Mississippi'' – Mark Twain—1944
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''The Oregon Trail'' – Francis Parkman—1945
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Ozark Folksongs'' (4 Vols.) – Vance Randolph (endpapers only) – 1946-50
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''We the People'' – Leo Huberman—1947
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Green Grow the Lilacs'' – Lynn Riggs—1954
*(Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton) ''Three Rivers South (Young Abe Lincoln)'' – Virginia Eifert – 1955
References
Notes
Catalogs and monographs
*
*
Major museum exhibitions
* "Thomas Hart Benton's 'America Today' Mural Rediscovered", organized by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
()
* "American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood", organized by the
Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...
, the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art.
In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...
, and the
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Amon may refer to:
Mythology
* Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra
* Aamon, a Goetic demon
People Momonym
* Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah
Given name
* Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...
()
Further reading
* Adams, Henry, "Thomas Hart Benton's Fall from Grace", ''Missouri Historical Review'', 109 (April 2015), 145–57. Heavily illustrated.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Wien, Jake Milgram, "The Gold Dust Twins: Thomas Hart Benton, Walt Disney, and the Mining of Frontier Mythology". ''
The Magazine Antiques'', May/June 2015
*
External links
The Official Website for Thomas Hart BentonWorks by Thomas Hart Bentonin the
Smithsonian American Art MuseumThomas Hart Benton papers, 1906-1975from the Smithsonian
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...
*
Works by Thomas Hart Bentonat the
State Historical Society of Missouri
The State Historical Society of Missouri, a private membership and state funded organization, is a comprehensive research facility located in Columbia, Missouri, specializing in the preservation and study of Missouri's cultural heritage. Establ ...
''The Long Voyage Home'' Artist Portraits and Paintingsat
The Ned Scott Archive
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Thomas Hart
1889 births
1975 deaths
20th-century American painters
20th-century American printmakers
Académie Julian alumni
American expatriates in France
American male painters
American muralists
Art Students League of New York faculty
Artists from Kansas City, Missouri
Camoufleurs
Kansas City Art Institute alumni
Military personnel from Missouri
Modern painters
Painters from Missouri
People from Neosho, Missouri
People of the New Deal arts projects
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
United States Navy personnel of World War I
United States Navy sailors
Writers from Missouri
20th-century American male artists
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters