Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Benton, Thomas Hart |
Title |
Cradling Wheat |
Date |
1939 |
Description |
Thomas Hart Benton (Neosho, Missouri 1889-1975 Kansas City, Missouri) Cradling Wheat, 1939 Lithograph on white wove paper, edition of 250 9 ¾ x 12 inches Knoxville Museum of Art, 2020 purchase with funds provided by KMA Collectors Circle Thomas Hart Benton was one of 20th century American art's most influential painters and teachers. He specialized in rolling rustic scenes of working class American life and labor that became commonly referred to as "Regionalism." Benton was also very active as a printmaker, especially in lithography, which allowed for subtle gradations of tone that approximated the color gradations in his paintings. This rare East Tennessee image likely stems from the artist's extensive tour of the South in 1928. Featuring lean field hands harvesting grain on a sunny hillside, the scene stands as a classic example of Benton's interest in championing grassroots America, which he felt was rapidly disappearing due to industrialization. Cradling Wheat includes such nostalgic touches as the cradle scythe used by the farmer on the right to cut the grain, an implement that would have been old-fashioned by the 1930s. In his description of Cradling Wheat Benton wrote, "Scene in the hill country of East Tennessee in 1928…doubt whether this kind of harvesting can be found anymore-anywhere." |
Catalog Number |
2020.04.01 |
Search Terms |
Lithographs Paper Prints Farm life Farmers Farming Wheat |
Credit line |
purchase with funds provided by KMA Collectors Circle |