Social Realism/Regionalism & Thomas Hart Benton

The three most renowned Regionalists were Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), John Steuart Curry (1897-1946), and Grant Wood (1892-1942), all of whom are well represented in the Museum's collection. Their choice of subjects celebrated the American identity. All three were from the Midwest, which adds legitimacy to the perceived wholesomeness of their values. While their works differed stylistically, art critics and popular press regarded them as founders of a uniquely American style. By the 1940s, when the United States became immersed in international affairs, Regionalism was regarded as provincial and limited.

Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975) painted The Arts of Life in America (1932) during the depths of the Great Depression. The series provided the artist with the second most complex project of his emerging career. His slightly earlier New School Murals portrayed America at work while the Arts of Life described America at play. He was intensely ambitious and wanted to create murals that would inspire Americans to overcome the almost insurmountable difficulties they were facing.

Benton set out to create an inspirational series of canvases that would provide the viewer with an understanding of the nature of American creativity. In his series of four murals and a lunette, he concentrated on depicting the indigenous art forms of major divisions of the country: the South, the Cities, and the West. Benton also painted an historical section devoted to Native Americans. The final section, the lunette, he developed as a political satire.