Thomas Hart Benton Art
American, 1889-1975
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.(Biography provided by Gallery of the Masters)
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Artist: Thomas Hart Benton
Prayer Meeting
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Fallbrook, CA
A lovely impression of a beautiful regionalist work depicting an African American family going to church. Rarely comes to market.
Signed in block, pencil signed and titled.
Category
Mid-20th Century Other Art Style Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
Threshing
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in New York, NY
A superb, strong impression of this lithograph. The the edition of 250. Signed in pencil by Benton, lower right. Published by Associated American Artists, New York.
Category
1940s American Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
The Farmer's Daughter
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Sarasota, FL
Beautiful, full margins lithograph by Thomas H Benston, published by
Associated American Press in New York 1944.
Hand signed in pencil lower right.
Category
1940s American Modern Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
MUSIC LESSON
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Santa Monica, CA
THOMAS HART BENTON (1889-1975)
THE MUSIC LESSON 1943, (Fath 60)
Lithograph, signed in pencil lower right. Edition 250 as published by Associated American Artists,
image 10 1/8” x...
Category
1940s American Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
'Planting' also 'Spring Plowing' — 1930s American Regionalism
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Thomas Hart Benton, 'Planting (Spring Plowing)', lithograph, 1939, edition 250, Fath 28. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right.
A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-...
Category
1930s American Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
'Threshing' — 1940s American Regionalism
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Thomas Hart Benton, 'Threshing', lithograph, 1941, edition 250, Fath 48. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower left. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white, wove paper,...
Category
1940s American Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
'Goin' Home' — 1930s American Regionalism
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Thomas Hart Benton, 'Goin' Home', lithograph, 1937, edition 250, Fath 14. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white, wove pape...
Category
1930s American Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Discussion"
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Franklin, MI
A fine impression of this excellent subject in excellent condition with large
full margins---signed in pencil by the artist
Category
1960s American Modern Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
Aaron, American Social Realist Lithograph
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Thomas Hart Benton (American 1889 - 1975)
Title: Aaron
Medium: Hand Signed Lithograph
Year of Work: 1941
Edition Size: 250
Dimensions: 12.9" x 9.5" unframed, 20" x 16" Framed...
Category
1940s Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
"White Calf," Farm Genre Scene Original Lithograph by Thomas Hart Benton
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"White Calf" is an original lithograph print by Thomas Hart benton. It features the image of a man milking a cow while her calf lays down in front. Benton's breathtaking way of rende...
Category
1940s American Modern Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
Two Horses
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Missouri, MO
"Two Horses" by Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)
Signed Lower Right
Without Frame: 7" x 10"
With Frame: 16.25" x 19.25"
Thomas Hart Benton was born in Neosho, Missouri on April 15, 18...
Category
20th Century Modern Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Paper, Pencil
The Hymn Singer
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Missouri, MO
Signed in Pencil Lower Right
Ed. 500
Circulated by Twayne Publishers, New York City
Image Size: 16 x 12 3/8
Framed Size: 24 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches
The legendary actor actor and musici...
Category
1950s American Realist Thomas Hart Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph
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Shallow Creek
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Music Lesson, American Realism Original Lithograph
By Thomas Hart Benton
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Year of Work: 1943
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H 13.25 in. W 11.5 in. D .38 in.
Island Hay
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PLANTING
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Santa Monica, CA
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HAYSTACK
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Located in Aventura, FL
Hand signed by Artist. Lithograph on paper. Published by Associated American Artists. Fath, 21. Image size 10.25 x 12.875 inches. Custom framed as pictured. Edition of 250. Artw...
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CRADLING WHEAT
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Thomas Hart Benton art for sale on 1stDibs
1stDibs offers a wide variety of authentic Thomas Hart Benton art for sale. You can also browse by medium to find art by Thomas Hart Benton in lithograph and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th Century and is mostly associated with the Modern style. Not every interior allows for large Thomas Hart Benton art, so small editions measuring 9.399999618530273 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Martin Lewis, Frederick Mershimer and , Adolf Arthur Dehn. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,715 and tops out at $80,000 while the average work can sell for $4,900. Thomas Hart Benton art prices can vary depending upon medium, time period and other attributes.