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Thomas Hart Benton - Presentation – THOMAS HART BENTON September 2008 Who was Thomas Hart Benton? 1889 – Born in Neosho, MO to a famous political family. Started drawing at a young age – his created his first mural with crayons. Educated as an artist at the Art Institute of Chicago and Academie Julian in Paris. Thomas Hart Benton in his studio, 1936. Photo courtesy of The Kansas City Star. Who was Thomas Hart Benton? Originally influenced by European art, then experimented with abstraction Considered outspoken, opinionated and often abrasive and surrounded by controversy One of the principal Regionalists Through painting, Benton was able to support himself Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14589825 Benton’s Techniques Early on attempted Modernism, Abstraction, Synchromism, Master Works Benton denounced the contemporary art of his time, but never fully broke from his Modernist roots Mural and canvas paintings focused on American history and sometimes “less savory” subjects of American life through varied subjects Early 1930s vs late 1930s Compare Benton and Michelangelo’s artworks New York Rooftops, c. 1920-23 Thomas Hart Benton, The Bather, 1917 Michelangelo Buonaratti, Figure from the Sistine Chapel, Rome, 1508-1512 Benton’s Techniques “Sold out” in a sense by creating artworks for the tobacco industry and the military. His canvas - dramatic action, loud colors, sculptural volumes He intended to create distinctly American art Landscapes in his later years have a “feeling of harmony between man and nature” Tobacco Sorters, 1944 Picnic, 1952 Private Collection Benton and Pollock The Teacher and The Pupil Benton taught Pollock at the Art Students League of New York Regionalists influenced Abstract Expressionists Compare Benton and Pollock’s works Jackson Pollock n 1928. Jackson Pollock Papers. Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Rephotographed by Lee Ewing Thomas Hart Benton, Going West, 1930 Jackson Pollock, Going West, c. 1934-1935 Illustration for Leo Hubermans’s We The People National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Benton’s Rhythm Benton’s three fundamental principles of successful composition: Equilibrium, Sequence or Connection and Rhythm Curves and their counterpoint around vertical poles “Thomas Hart Benton, illustrations from “The Mechanics of Form Organization,” redrawn from Benton’s pencil sketches by Lloyd Goodrich, published in Arts magazine, 1926-27. In his essay, Benton laid out the fundamental principles of abstract composition. His diagrams directly looked forward to the work of his pupil Jackson Pollock. The compositional structure of Pollock’s early works is given in diagrams 22 and 23; that of his later work in diagram 24.”1 Thomas Hart Benton, The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley 1934 Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS Benton’s The Hailstorm Represents a return to his roots in Missouri Paint what you know rather than imagined Agrarian subject – drama of man in nature Distorted figures, soft and blurred edges, Baroque contrast and diagonals/dramatic lines, agitation. Watercolor study Detail The Hailstorm, 1940 Detail Running Before the Storm, 1940 Thomas Hart Benton, The Hailstorm, 1940 The Regionalists Grant Wood Lived his entire life in Iowa Subject matter of choice – country life and American folklore The Stone City Colony and Art School 1935 – Published the Revolt Against the City John Steuart Curry Kansas farm boy who moved east John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood, photograph Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Respect for animals – noted how weather conditions affected farm life Subject matter of choice – melodramatic depictions of his regions he called home Taught at Art Students League of New York Grant Wood, Stone City, Iowa, 1930 John Steuart Curry, Manhunt, 1931 Joslyn Art Museum Joslyn Art Museum Power of Nature Grant Wood Stone City, Iowa, 1930. Joslyn Art Museum John Steuart Curry Tornado Over Kansas,1929 Muskegon Museum of Art Thomas Hart Benton, Spring on the Missouri, 1945 © T.H. Benton and R.P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/UMB Bank Trustee/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
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