Thomas Hart Benton: Discoveries and Interpretations
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Individual Artists
Thomas Hart Benton: Discoveries and Interpretations Details
Review “Thomas Hart Benton is an extremely valuable book for the student of American Culture, as Adams does an excellent job of going beyond the analysis of the murals, illustrations, and easel paintings, with regard to style and subjects, by integrating the art with the travels, writings, and political setting in which the artist was born and matured.”—Journal of American Culture“His in-depth study of Benton’s artistic abilities at Martha’s Vineyard, his insightful analysis of Benton’s technical process in drawing and printmaking, and his illuminating discussion of authentication and connoisseurship not only add to our understanding of Benton, but also make a meaningful contribution to a scholarly field that too often excludes dealers, collectors, and other actors and aspects of the art market.”—The Annals of Iowa“Adams’s detailed and knowledgeable analyses of Benton’s work makes clear that the man was an impressive and original twentieth-century figure—a creator, a writer, a musician, and a teacher.”—Gateway, the magazine of the Missouri History Museum“If you read only one book on Thomas Hart Benton, read this one. It takes a balanced approach.”—Kansas History“A helpful and heartfelt compendium of all things Benton by a scholar who remains intrigued by his subject, and committed to pronouncing his significance on multiple fronts.”—Missouri Historical Review“Adams’s Benton differs from the standard image of the artist presented in survey books. This fascinating book gives readers an array of perspectives on Benton’s life, art, and career.”—Indiana Magazine of History“Unfailingly interesting, this book should be a basic text for students in American art and cultural studies. It should also be required reading for anyone interested in the history of ideas (even mistaken ones) and the tangled interfaces between art, politics, and living. The Benton who emerges here—cultivated, emotional, a bit of a hick, an aesthetic experimenter—is a new Benton, a towering figure in the history of American painting. He’s Harry Truman and an old master muralist rolled into one, a movie star and a one-man show.”—Karal Ann Marling, Professor Emeritus of Art History and American Studies, University of Minnesota Read more About the Author Henry Adams is a graduate of Harvard University and received his MA and Ph.D from Yale, where he received the Frances Blanshard Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in Art History. He is the author of more than 350 publications on American art, including Eakins Revealed, which Andrew Wyeth described as “without question the most extraordinary biography I have ever read on an artist.” Currently the Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve University, he is widely regarded as the foremost scholar of Thomas Hart Benton’s work. He was the curator of the centennial exhibition of Benton’s work at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in 1989. In partnership with film maker Ken Burns, he developed a documentary film on Benton which was broadcast nationally on PBS to an audience of over 20 million. Read more
Reviews
I teach English to adult immigrants in Kansas City, where Thomas Hart Benton lived for many years. I want to do a unit on THB as a way of teaching my students something about U.S. history as well as something about this great artist. Henry Adams has done a superb job of telling us about Benton's life and art. I feel prepared, as a non-art history person, to introduce my students to this local legend.
