biography
| name: |
Benton, Thomas Hart
|
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1889–1975)
|
| biography:
| Painter, born in Neosho, Missouri, USA. The grand-nephew of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, during 1906–12 he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and in Paris, but he rejected the European approach to art. Drawing on his extensive travels through much of the midwest, S, and W USA, he tried to capture his vision of dynamic democracy with an idiom that was dramatic, rhythmic, and populist, often using bright colours and cartoon-like figures. Other hallmarks include his evocation of American legends and his several murals in public buildings. His work is regarded as creating what was known as the Regionalist style or school, seen in such paintings as ‘Cotton Loading’ (1928) and ‘Country Dance’ (1928). |
|
|
