Three Cotton Pickers

Artist Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889 - 1975)

Datec. 1929

MediumWatercolor

Dimensions14 x 9 1/2 in. (35.6 x 24.1 cm)

ClassificationsWatercolor

Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederic Tudor

Terms

Object number1972.43

Description“Three Cotton Pickers” was based on sketches Benton made in 1928 during a trip through central Georgia. He described his inspiration as “a land of beauty and horror, of cultivation and refinement, laid over misery and degradation…in spite of this the South remains our romantic land.” The cotton pickers’ kneeling bodies in the foreground are angled in a way that draws the viewer’s eyes up to follow their gaze. In their gaze is an older woman, the only one painted in vibrant color. Behind her, a modest cabin stands apart. They are surrounded by a frenzied landscape with their backs to the viewer and their faces unset; the cotton pickers betray no obvious emotions or thoughts of their livelihood. Kneeling in front of the land that they arduously tend to, they give a sense of gravity and importance to the scene.

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