Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1889-04-15
Death 1975-01-19
Gender:
Male
Americans
English

Biographical notes:

Thomas Hart Benton (April 15, 1889 – January 19, 1975) was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, 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 region in which he was born and which he called home for most of his life. He also studied in Paris, lived in New York City for more than 20 years and painted scores of works there, summered for 50 years on Martha's Vineyard off the New England coast, and also painted scenes of the American South and West.

During World War I, he served in the U.S. Navy 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."

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Subjects:

  • Art, American
  • Artists, American
  • Artists, American
  • Art
  • Art
  • Art and state
  • Artists
  • Artists
  • Art, Regional
  • Caricatures and cartoons
  • Cartooning
  • Exhibitions
  • Muralists
  • Mural painting and decoration
  • Mural painting and decoration
  • Mural painting and decoration, American
  • Painters
  • Painters
  • Regionalism
  • Regionalism in art
  • Synchromism (Art)
  • Artists, American
  • Art
  • Artists
  • Mural painting and decoration
  • Painters

Occupations:

  • Muralists
  • Painter
  • Painters
  • Painters, American

Places:

  • Norfolk, VA, US
  • New York City, NY, US
  • Missouri, MO, US
  • Paris, A8, FR
  • Kansas City, MO, US
  • Chicago, IL, US

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