Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2
Thomas Hart BentonThreshing1941
1941
$7,500List Price
About the Item
- Creator:Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975, American)
- Creation Year:1941
- Dimensions:Height: 9.38 in (23.83 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Catalogue reference: Fath 48.
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1477211238692
Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton was born in Neosho, Missouri on April 15, 1889. Even as a boy, he was no stranger to the "art of the deal" or to the smoke-filled rooms in which such deals were often consummated. His grandfather had been Missouri's first United States Senator and served in Washington for thirty years. His father, Maecenas Benton, was United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri under Cleveland and served in the United States House of Representatives during the McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt administrations. Benton's brother, Nat, was prosecutor for Greene County, Missouri, during the 1930s. As soon as he could walk, Benton traveled with his father on political tours. There he learned the arts of chewing and smoking, and while the men were involved in their heated discussions, Benton delighted in finding new cream colored wallpaper on the staircase wall, at the age of six or seven, and drew in charcoal his first mural, a long multi-car freight train. As soon as he was eighteen, even though his father wanted him to study law, Benton left for Chicago where he studied at the Art Institute during the years 1907 and 1908. He continued his studies in Paris, where he learned delicious wickedness, aesthetic and otherwise. Once back home, he became the leader of the Regionalist School, the most theatrical and gifted of the 1930s muralists and as Harry Truman described him,"the best damned painter in America." Detractors said that Benton was "a fascist, a communist, a racist and a bigot"; the ingenious structure, powerful use of modeling and scale and the high-colored humanity of the murals and easel paintings are retort enough. He was a dark, active dynamo, only 5 ft., 3 1/2 in. tall. He was outspoken, open, charmingly profane; he had a great mane of hair and a face the texture of oak bark. He wore rumpled corduroy and flannel, and walked with the unsteady swagger of a sailor just ashore. He poured a salwart drink, chewed on small black cigars and spat in the fire. Benton was once described as the "churlish dean of regionalist art." If you listened to a variety of art authorities, you would find them equally divided between Harry Truman's assessment of Benton as "the best damned painter in America" and Hilton Kramer who proclaimed Benton "a failed artist." The East Coast art establishment tended to regard Benton as memorable for one reason only: he was the teacher of Jackson Pollock. Benton was married in 1922 to Rita, a gregarious Italian lady, and they had a daughter and a son. At the height of his fame in the 1940s, Benton bungled the buy-out he was offered by Walt Disney and went his own way, completing his last mural in 1975 in acrylics the year of his death. He died in 1975.
About the Seller
4.9
Gold Seller
Premium sellers maintaining a 4.3+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 2020
1stDibs seller since 2021
114 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 2 hours
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.You May Also Like
Ann Nooney, (Demolition with Windows, NYC)
By Ann Nooney
Located in New York, NY
The dimensions are for the image; there are large margins. This lithograph is signed in pencil.
A native New Yorker, Ann Nooney (1900-1970) recorded the urban scene while on the Wo...
Category
1930s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Original "Food Will Win The War" vintage World War 1 poster
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Spokane, WA
Original World War 1 vintage poster: Food Will Wn the War. Arhival linen backed. PRINTER: Rusling Wood Litho., New York Bright and in good condition. There is some marks down the left side of the poster, possible ink from when the poster was printed.
This poster calls on immigrants to do their part in the war effort. It depicts recent immigrants standing near a sailing ship with the Statue of Liberty and a rainbow stretched across the New York City skyline in the background. The text reads:
You came here seeking Freedom.
You must now help preserve it.
Wheat is needed by the allies.
Waste nothing.
The generosity and compassion of the American people and the great agricultural resources of the North American continent would be called upon... Twenty million Americans signed pledges of membership in the Food Administration...
Category
1910s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,100
H 30 in W 20 in D 0.05 in
Original Chamonix Mont-Blanc vintage travel poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original vintage travel poster Chamonix Mont-Blanc PLM French travel poster. Very good condition, archival linen backed. Ready to frame. ...
Category
1930s American Realist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$8,500
H 39.38 in W 24.5 in D 0.07 in
Original Learn to Make and Test Big Guns vintage World War 1 poster
Located in Spokane, WA
"Learn to Make and Test the Big Guns" original vintage poster: linen backed. Grade A condition. Ordnance recruiting poster No. 2.
Better yourself – Enlist and learn a Trade in the Ordnance Department U.S.A. Linen-backed, horizontal, fine condition. A rare original poster.
Aberdeen Proving Ground …. Daily peacetime firing. Publisher: Washington, D.C.: Engineer Reproduction Plant, U.S. Army, 1919. OCLC: 51040606
The recruiting and training of artillery units were crucial to American victory in World War I. For the Saint-Mihiel offensive, General Pershing...
Category
1910s American Realist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,560 Sale Price
20% Off
H 19.25 in W 25 in D 0.05 in
Put Fighting Blood in Your Business
Located in Spokane, WA
Original WW1 poster. Put Fighting Blood in Your Business. Here’s his record! Does he get a Job? Arthur Woods, Assistant to the Secretary of...
Category
1910s American Realist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Original War Fund Week Keep this Hand of Mercy at its work vintage poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original WW1 poster: Keep this Hand of Mercy at its work. War Fund Week. One hundred Million Dollars. Original WW1 lithograph, archival line...
Category
1910s American Realist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$500 Sale Price
20% Off
H 27.25 in W 20.25 in D 0.05 in
Original Windsor, See Britain by Train vintage poster
By Gordon Nicoll
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Windsor See Britain by Train vintage railroad poster. Linen backed in very fine condition, ready to frame. No restoration to t...
Category
1950s American Realist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,720 Sale Price
20% Off
H 39 in W 24 in D 0.05 in
Original Remember Your First Thrill of American Liberty 1917 vintage poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original poster: Rembember Your First Thrill of Ameridan Liberty YOUR DUTY Buy United States Government Bonds 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917. Linen backed and ready to frame. Poste...
Category
1910s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$650
H 30 in W 20 in D 0.2 in
Original Grindelwald Switzerland vintage curling winter sports poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original vintage poster: GRINDELWALD SUISSE; vintage Swiss winter sporting poster created by Karl Toggweiler. Size 25.5" x 40"; c. 1960. Original lithograph. This Swiss curlin...
Category
1960s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,518 Sale Price
20% Off
H 40 in W 25.5 in D 0.05 in
"Windy Hill" Lawrence Beall Smith, Mid-Century Realist Scene, American Life
By Lawrence Beall Smith
Located in New York, NY
Lawrence Beall Smith
Windy Hill, 1948
Signed in pencil lower right margin
Lithograph on wove paper
Image 10 3/8 x 13 1/16 inches
Sheet 11 15/16 x 16 inches
From the edition of 250
...
Category
1940s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Paper
More From This Seller
View AllThe Rape of Europa
By Giulio Bonasone
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this scarce engraving with strong contrasts.
Catalogue reference: Bartsch 109
Category
16th Century Italian School Landscape Prints
Materials
Engraving
Resting The Horses
By Olaf Wieghorst
Located in New York, NY
Etching, 1937. Signed by the artist and dated in pencil lower right margin.
A scarce etching by this important American western artist.
Category
1930s American Realist Animal Prints
Materials
Etching
Study Of Drapery
By Boardman Robinson
Located in New York, NY
Brush and black and gray inks and wash on cream wove paper. Signed by the artist in pencil, lower center. Titled in pencil, lower right. Inscribed with the artist's name and addre...
Category
1930s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Ink, Handmade Paper
Fête du Jubilé de la Reine à Bedford Park, Londres
By Camille Pissarro
Located in New York, NY
A superb, dark and evenly-printed impression of this very scarce lithograph by Camille Pissarro and George W. Thornley. Printed in light brown on Chine appliqué. The deluxe edition o...
Category
1890s Impressionist Abstract Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Skyline (San Francisco)
By Bernard Buffet
Located in New York, NY
Signed and numbered 19/150 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Mourlot, Paris. Published by Editions San Francisco Grafic, San Francisco. From Album San Francisco.
Catalogue raison...
Category
1990s Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Color
Le Clocher de St. Nicolas
By Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this scarce lithograph on wove paper. , Printed by Lemercier & Cie, Paris and published by Alfred Robaud. From "Douze Croquis et Dessins Originaux."
Catalo...
Category
1870s Realist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph