“(Thomas Hart Benton is) the best damn painter in America.”
—Harry S Truman
Thomas Hart Benton captured the attention of Missouri and the art world with his paintings depicting life in America. He was on the forefront of what is now known as the American Regionalism Movement in the late 1920s and 1930s. His focus in art was on “real life” paintings of Americana. These magnificent panoramas of Missouri history still adorn the Missouri State Capitol.
His paintings were more than just a symbol of life in the Midwest and South; they were also a rallying cry for the positive aspects of “America First” or Isolationism, which would steer the course of American history for years to come.
Benton was born on April 15, 1889, in Neosho, Missouri, which lies in the Ozark Hills south of Joplin. His great-great uncle and namesake—Senator Thomas Hart Benton—served 30 years in the U.S. Senate. His father was a four-term congressman and U.S. district attorney. The family spent time in Washington, D.C. when his father was in office but returned to Neosho after he was defeated for reelection.
Early on, the young Benton showed great promise as an artist, but his father pushed for a career in law. But the young Benton’s fate was about to change after a local newspaper came calling.
Thomas was working as a surveyor in 1906 when a random encounter in a barroom led to a job at the Joplin American newspaper. His job was to draw humorous portraits of city leaders and local citizens, which paid him about $14 a week. Even though the pay was low, the job was a perfect fit for the blossoming young artist.
During his late teens and twenties, he continued to pressure his father into sending him to art school, but his plan backfired when his father shipped him off to military school in Alton, Illinois. One year in military school was enough for Benton, as he finally convinced his father to send him to the Art Institute of Chicago.
His years at art schools in Chicago and Paris refined his abilities, but he truly came into his own as an artist during his travels in the early 1920s. He ventured into remote areas near his home in the Midwest and also in the South, where he captured images of everyday people on canvas. It was a style he hadn’t studied much in art school, but he quickly mastered the techniques of painting landscapes and images he saw.
By the late 1920s he was already one of the top American Regionalist painters on the art scene. He used vivid colors that jumped off the canvas and painted almost cartoon-like images of people. Those characteristics defined his famous style. He continued painting once he moved to Kansas City in 1935 where he stayed until his death in 1975. It was his time in Missouri where many of his most famous works were created.
His panorama mural of Missouri history still graces the walls of the lounge for the House of Representatives in Jefferson City, where thousands of people pack the chambers every year to get a look. Benton’s depictions of Western migration are also on display at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence. His 1947 mural, Achelous & Hercules, which was painted for Harzfeld’s Department Store in downtown Kansas City, has since been moved to the Smithsonian Institution.
Not only did Benton become popular with “common” folks of his day, but he also led a charge within the art world to rebel against the French dominance of artwork in the United States. Many contemporary artists are still feeling his influence. His leadership in the Regionalist Movement paved the way for other artists of his style to follow.
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