The two small black and white studies shown here give us a rare opportunity to see inside the artist's mind. Observe, for example, the cloud that starts from behind the middle figure and ends up in the sky. Notice how Benton plays with its shape and position. See also how the shapes become clearer as he works his way toward the final large work.




Take some time to compare these two images. Why do you think the artist started with a small study using only tones of black and white? Consider the challenge of planning a huge wall mural like this. How would such a study help?
Notice the changes between the study and the final mural - in the distant church, the man on the wagon, and the addition of the lady visiting the outhouse. Now look for other changes.



When Benton enlarged the small black and white study to the final huge mural, what changes did he make? Do you see the lightening bolt that changes to a trumpeting angel? No one knows why he did this. Do you have an idea? Now look at the movie screen. How does the audience watching the movie change in the final version? What other changes do you see?




Challenge yourself! See if you can find all the changes the artist made between the black and white small study and the final wall-sized version in color. For starters, take a look at the tree in the upper left. Then move to the building, the floor boards, and everything else. Did the artist decide that the store front was too big? Was the man with the rifle too dominating?

Thomas Hart Benton's Arts of Life in America :
A portrait of life in America in the 1930's



Let's look at the big picture first:
In 1932 a set of large wall murals was unveiled in the former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art on 10 West 8th Street in New York City. It was Thomas Hart Benton's Arts of Life in America - four huge wall panels and four more around the ceiling. These panels depict the 'Arts' of everyday life - music, games, dance, and sports. They also show regional diversity, unemployment, crime, and political nonsense. They give a comprehensive portrait of life in America in the1930's.

Here's a glimpse of the five major panels:
In 1929 the stock market crashed. The Arts of Life in America was painted at the height of the Great Depression. Roosevelt was campaigning for the White House. Prohibition was the law of the land. Bootlegging of illegal alcohol was big business, especially in the cities.

Whole farming families, called 'Okies,' (many were from Oklahoma) uprooted themselves in search of work and fertile land in California. Wild and woolly western towns became hotbeds of rugged individualism.

Thomas Hart Benton was born in Neosho, Missouri, and as a small boy absorbed the life of the western frontier. Although he later spent much time in cities (Washington, D.C., Chicago, Paris, New York), he never forgot his rural roots. He took sketching trips by car in the 1920s and 1930s through various sections of the country, but it was in 1928 that he discovered the South on a trip from Pittsburgh through Georgia and Louisiana to New Mexico.

Benton's understanding of the Native American culture was fairly informed, if we evaluate the mural, Indian Arts. In this work, he chose to portray the Plains Indians and their way of life, which was by this time only a memory in history. An early lithograph, called Historical Composition, of 1929, clearly relates to this mural and may have been the artist's first treatment of a Native American subject.

Benton came from a political family. His father was elected to Congress in 1896, and the family alternated residences between Missouri and Washington, D.C. This early exposure to political life stayed with Benton the rest of his life. In the final panel of this series, Intellectual Business and Political Ballyhoo, he makes fun of all forms of politically-charged communication. [IMG]Benton came from a political family. His father was elected to Congress in 1896, and the family alternated residences between Missouri and Washington, D.C. This early exposure to political life stayed with Benton the rest of his life. In the final panel of this series, Intellectual Business and Political Ballyhoo, he makes fun of all forms of politically-charged communication.

Benton had a fascinating working method, and was a controversial figure in the world of mural art, often in public conflict with others. He was a pivotal figure in the story of art in America. He was originally influenced by the old masters of European art, then by modern artists experimenting with abstraction.
He turned away from abstraction to paint his own country and its people, becoming a 'Regionalist' painter. As the tutor of the young Jackson Pollock, his influence passed on to the next generation of abstract expressionists and can be seen in pop art.

Today you can see five of the mural panels at the New Britain Museum of American Art. They were purchased in 1953, and Benton maintained a special relationship with the museum for the rest of his life.

The accompanying 32 page brochure contained an essay by Benton - a rare opportunity to read an artist's thoughts on his work at the time it was made public.

In addition to the murals themselves, the museum holds 5 preliminary studies for the series and an almost complete set of Benton's lithographs.

wow great artist....superb post..

great all are so good

:thumbs:

nice info!

Benton's "Inter Dimensional" Book revels many of these Infos. I am searching this book in eBook format. I read that in College Lib.

Can any one help me in finding that Book!

Sundar from where you got this INFO.

here's the link
its a british museum link kay. jus did a bit of hacking .........thats all
i hope its worth for u
regards
sundar

thanks sundar sir!

hey don add sir to me da....its my job to help my frens and uyirvaniites and moreover u
regards
sundar