Thomas Hart Benton
STUDY FOR 'PEOPLE OF CHILMARK': A DOUBLE-SIDED WORK, C. 1922
Watercolor and gouache and pencil on paper
13 1/4 x 16 in
33.7 x 40.6 cm
Available at Surovek Gallery
It is not often that viewers get to see preliminary studies for artists’ works, but Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) enjoyed sharing his process, and his knowledge.
When creating a mural Benton often made a clay model of the figures and features he would be painting. For People of Chilmark, Benton did studies in clay, then in watercolor and gouache, quick-drying medium that allowed him to experiment with image, color and placement of form.
People of Chilmark was inspired by the summers spent with his family in Chilmark, a beautiful beach town on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.
The composition is similar to that of El Greco’s early 17th century painting, Resurrection. When Benton studied in Paris in 1909 he became enamored the works of El Greco. Both Resurrection and People of Chilmark lead the viewer’s eye around the painting, rather than focusing on a central figure.
People of Chilmark includes Benton’s wife, Rita, his brother-in-law, Louis, his neighbor Peggy Owen, and his close friend Thomas Craven. At the top of the work is the figure of a Black male, the first to be included in a work by Benton.
Although Benton had a reputation for being obstinate, opinionated and critical of abstract art, many of the students he taught at the Art Students League in New York credited his traditional teaching with the furtherance of their careers. Many, like Reginald Marsh, Dennis Hopper and Jackson Pollock went on to make major contributions to art in America. Benton also contributed work to a 1935 exhibition organized by the NAACP, An Art Commentary on Lynching, and was a close friend of Roger Baldwin, the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.
After completing his preliminary clay studies and renderings in pencil, watercolor and gouache, Benton would mix his own oils and complete each painting.
The competed People of Chilmark is part of the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., on view in the second floor gallery.
References:
Botts, Katherine. Thomas Hart Benton: How Mannerist Painting Influenced the Midwest American Mural Painter. Missouri State University. Journal of Undergraduate Research. Fall 2011.
Mary Frances Ivey. Thomas Hart Benton: The Pendergast Years. Kansas City in the Jazz Age & Great Depression. Kansas City Public Library.
Simone McCarthy. Art Rooted in Rural Island Life. Martha’s Vineyard Magazine.
Please contact us if you would like more information about the works of Thomas Hart Benton available at Surovek Gallery.
