10. why did thomas hart benton use intense color in his artwork? course hero

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What influenced Thomas Hart Benton painting style?

Oct 25, 2018 · Why did Thomas Hart Benton use intense color in his artwork? Benton uses intense color in his artwork because he wanted to create and manipulate our sense of distance .

Are there any lithographs by Thomas Hart Benton?

Sep 08, 2018 · Why did Thomas Hart Benton use intense color in his artwork? He did this to create and manipulate our sense of distance in the painting. Also, used to for intensity. End of preview. Want to read all 2 pages? Upload your study docs or become a Course Hero member to access this document Continue to access Term Fall Professor Palmers Tags

Why is Thomas Hart Benton important?

Thomas Hart Benton was born in Neosho, Missouri in 1889 into a family of prominent politicians committed to political republicanism and populism. His father was a congressman, and his great-uncle, for whom he was named, was an important US senator. Benton later recalled that, "Politics was the core of our family life."

How did Benton contribute to the history of Modern Art?

Named after his great-uncle, a five-term senator, Thomas Hart Benton was born on April 15, 1889, in Neosho, Missouri. His father, Maecenus Eason Benton, was a lawyer and a United States representative from 1896 to 1904, so the young Benton spent his early years in both Washington, DC, and southwest Missouri. Benton dropped out of high school at ...

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Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original. Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was an artist whose images express his deepest feelings about American life …

What was Benton's contribution to American art?

Benton's main contribution to 20 th -century American art might be his thematic emphasis on images of ordinary people and common lore. His expressive realism stands out for its exaggerated curvilinear forms and shapes, and bold use of key colors. By shifting attention away from New York and towards the Midwest, Benton expanded both the scope of possible artistic subject matter, and the potential public for American art.

What was Thomas Hart Benton famous for?

Thomas Hart Benton was one of America's most popular and heavily patronized modern artists during the decades leading up to World War II, and his murals were especially acclaimed. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, Benton gained artistic fame as a Regionalist painter, depicting the people and culture of the American Midwest, in particular his native state of Missouri. While his subjects were primarily based in America's heartland, he lived in New York City for twenty years. Considered by many to be reactionary due to his outspoken and inflammatory diatribes against the art world, Benton, a populist, did in fact boldly use his art to protest the KKK, lynching, and fascism during the 1930s and 1940s. Benton was also an admired teacher at New York's Art Students League, offering students grounding in European art history, as well as an awareness of European modernism. The advent of Abstract Expressionism has all but eclipsed Benton's importance in the history of modern art.

Where was Thomas Benton born?

Thomas Hart Benton was born in Neosho, Missouri in 1889 into a family of prominent politicians committed to political republicanism and populism. His father was a congressman, and his great-uncle, for whom he was named, was an important US senator. Benton later recalled that, "Politics was the core of our family life.".

Who was Jackson Pollock?

Jackson Pollock was Benton's most ardent follower in the 1930s and his early work bears a strong similarity to that of his teacher in terms of style and subject matter. Rather than a complete break from Benton, Pollock's move towards pure abstraction is best seen as an aesthetic shift.

What style of painting did Thomas Hart Benton use?

He started painting in a naturalistic, realistic style that soon became known as regionalism.

Why did Benton create the year of peril?

In 1942, Benton created paintings to help boost the American cause in World War II. His series titled "The Year of Peril" depicted the threats of fascism and Nazism. It included the piece "The Sowers," which references, in a nightmarish fashion, Millet's world-famous "The Sower.".

Where was Thomas Benton born?

Born in southeastern Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton was part of a family of noted politicians. His father served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and he shared his name with a great-great-uncle who was one of the first two U.S. senators elected from Missouri.

Who is Bill Lamb?

Bill Lamb is a music and arts writer with two decades of experience covering the world of entertainment and culture. our editorial process. Bill Lamb. Updated November 30, 2019. Thomas Hart Benton was a 20th-century American artist who led the movement known as regionalism.

Who is Thomas Hart Benton?

Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original. Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was an artist whose images express his deepest feelings about American life and history, about love family and religion. This lavishly illustrated volume brilliantly reproduces hundreds of his works, ranging from the most informal, initimate sketches to monumental mural cycles ...

Who is Thomas Hart Benton's daughter?

Jessie, Thomas Hart Benton’s daughter and younger child, now a dark-eyed and energetic woman of 75, is the embodiment of her parents’ mingled temperaments —the bold Midwestern father, the resourceful Italian mother.

Early Life and Education

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Born in southeastern Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton was part of a family of noted politicians. His father served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and he shared his name with a great-great-uncle who was one of the first two U.S. senators elected from Missouri. The younger Thomas attended Western Military …
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Enemy of Modernism

  • Upon his return to New York City after the war, Thomas Hart Benton declared that he was an "enemy of modernism." He started painting in a naturalistic, realistic style that soon became known as regionalism. At the end of the 1920s, approaching age 40, he received his first large commission to paint the "America Today" series of murals for the New School for Social Resear…
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Art Educator

  • In addition to his notable work as a painter, Thomas Hart Benton had a long career as an art educator. He taught at the Art Students League of New York from 1926 to 1935. There, one of his most notable students was Jackson Pollock, later a leader of the abstract expressionistmovement. Pollock later claimed that he learned what to rebel against from Bento…
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Later Career

  • In 1942, Benton created paintings to help boost the American cause in World War II. His series titled "The Year of Peril" depicted the threats of fascism and Nazism. It included the piece "The Sowers," which references, in a nightmarish fashion, Millet's world-famous "The Sower." A giant in military cap seeds a field of death skulls tossed into the...
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Legacy

  • Thomas Hart Benton was one of the first American artists to effectively combine aesthetic ideas from modernist painting with reverence for regional realistic subject matter. He embraced his native Midwest and elevated its history and people through his creation of monumental murals celebrating their everyday life. Coming before the New Deal Arts Program, Benton's mural work s…
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Sources

  1. Adams, Henry. Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original.Knopf, 1989.
  2. Baigell, Matthew. Thomas Hart Benton. Harry N. Abrams, 1975.
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