THOMAS HART BENTON continued from page 12
Thomas Hart Benton ’ s studio in Kansas City is preserved just how he left it before he died in 1975 . GLOBE FILE brary has Benton ' s " Abraham Lincoln " mural , and the St . Louis Museum of Art has his painting " Cradling Wheat ."
Of course , no Benton road trip is complete without a stop at the Missouri Capitol , which houses Benton ' s mural , " A Social History of Missouri ." Benton had made the cover of " Time " in 1934 , two years before painting the mural .
Benton once said of the mural ’ s purpose , “ I was commissioned to make a history of Missouri , but a particular kind , a social history . A history of the life of the people of Missouri , those who actually made Missouri .”
The mural depicts everyday scenes in the state — from farming to political rallies — as well as Huck Finn and Jesse James . It did not shy away from Missouri ' s dark days , either , and includes a lynching , the auctioning of an enslaved person , and Missourians driving Mormons out of the state .
The road trip turns south , to the Springfield Art Museum , which has a number of Benton lithographs and drawings , as well as a watercolor titled " Wednesday Night Meeting ,” which isn ’ t always on view . Check with the museum .
The tour continues to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville , Arkansas , which has several Benton works , including " Tobacco Sorters " and " Buffalo River ," one of his many paintings
The Thomas Hart Benton mural in the House Lounge of the Missouri State Capitol includes a nod to Mark Twain ’ s Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn characters . GLOBE | ROGER NOMER
of Ozark rivers — a favorite subject for the artist .
The last stop on the road trip is Joplin , which bookends the artist ' s career . It was in Joplin that he got his start as an artist , drawing for a short-lived newspaper , The Joplin American .
Benton ' s father , Maecenas Benton , who for a while represented Southwest Missouri in Congress , opposed his son ' s choice of art as a career , and wanted his son to become a lawyer and politician , like him .
“ That I should even think of becoming an artist gave him a sense of outrage ,” Benton said . “ It would never do for a Benton to descend so low .”
But descend he did . Into Joplin ’ s House of Lords , where at age 17 he was caught staring at the painting of a naked woman that hung over the bar . “ The fellows started kidding me and I told them I was an artist . ... To prove it they knew that they needed a draftsman on the paper ( The Joplin American ) so they took me down there and I got the job .”
Joplin City Hall features the large mural , " Joplin at the Turn of the Century ," commissioned for the city ' s centennial . It was Benton ' s last signed mural .
The exhibit also includes drawings Benton made for the mural and one of Benton ’ s few remaining maquettes .
14 JOPLIN MAGAZINE | APRIL / MAY