The Arts of Life in America: Arts of the South
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton
(American, 1889 - 1975)
Date1932
MediumEgg tempera and oil glaze on linen
Dimensions93 3/4 x 157 1/4 in. (238.1 x 399.4 cm)
ClassificationsAcrylic Painting
Credit LineHarriet Russell Stanley Fund
Terms
Object number1953.2_2
DescriptionUnlike his somewhat earlier mural series for the New School in New York, which presents a portrait of working Americans, Benton has presented an ambitious review of Americans at play with The Arts of Life in America. He demonstrates his theory that creativity is a universal impulse and that each American contributes in his or her own way to the rich cultural life which all Americans enjoyed. Benton had studied the writings of the French social scientist, Hypolite Taine, and the American sociologist, James Jackson Turner, and he was convinced that by examining the leisure activities of the man on the street, he could present a truthful, comprehensive depiction of how Americans amuse themselves. Benton, a mid-westerner with populist roots, was fiercely nationalistic. He believed that it was his destiny to analyze and record life as he knew it for future generations, just as the great artists of the past had immortalized the times in which they had flourished.Benton stressed the popular arts in his Arts of the South. His cast of characters love to sing, dance, shoot craps, and get religion. Benton created a stage set with the floor tilted down in front and up in back, and populated it with clay figurines representing his cast of characters. In this manner he determined their relative scale and placement. The result is a medley of vignettes each with its own theme.
Benton preferred including people whom he knew and sketched in Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and elsewhere on his travels. From upper left, the first vignette consists of a farmer perched on a mule drawn wagon waiting in front of a weather-beaten, decrepit church. A service has just concluded and one parishioner dashes to the outhouse. Below, three African-American crapshooters huddle in a graceful circular arrangement of angular bodies. In the foreground slightly to the right a woman feeds her child. The center section is dominated by a trio of African-Americans whose powerful voices are raised in song. The influence of rhythm and blues has grown more pervasive over the years and is now a dominant strain in American music. Benton acknowledged both the importance of song to African-American culture and the latent strength of African-Americans who suffered from blatant discrimination in the pre-civil rights era. The prominence given to the central group demonstrates Benton's sympathy for their plight and his admiration for their talent. Benton had witnessed the segregation and the poverty of African-Americans. At the same time, their inherent optimism and strength, expressed through music, shined through.
On the right, hell fire and brimstone are evidently powerful motivators for the white, open-air worshipers. Music again animates the scene. Finally, in what must be considered one of the most shocking aspects of the murals, Benton has heaped a pile of trash in the right foreground. Even the Ashcan School of 30 years earlier refrains from such an egregious lack of good taste. His mural is both realistic in its details and heroic in scale.
On View
On view
