A self-portrait of the artist is hung at the beginning of the exhibition “American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood.” Benton looms in the center, bare-chested against an azure sky with halo-like clouds. His wife, Rita, sits with elongated torso and limbs in a black bathing suit, holding a small crab. In the distance, other people dally on the shore, maybe making sand castles. For Benton, this beach vacation (at Martha’s Vineyard) was no casual sojourn of sun and sand. There is a dramatic spark in this moment, and pivotal for Benton, who said, “That little Massachusetts island freed me from its [painting’s] illusions and opened my mind to receive the great American world beyond it.” And so he did—using his characteristically baroque style to tell compelling stories, though not without edgy critiques.
The monumental painting Hollywood (1937-1938) is an apt example. Benton had previously completed major mural cycles where vignettes are tightly packed together, and his skill in creating dynamic figures allows for ready interpretation of the story. In Hollywood, a single canvas is organized into multiple spaces where the makings of the silver screen happen. An actress stands at the center, decked out like a sea goddess, while the production crew goes about their work. Cameras, lights, actors, even a makeup artist in the background, all do their part. For Benton, what went on behind the scenes—the often unseen activities of life—were crucial parts of his art.
The exhibition presents a rich array of materials, such as drawings and completed paintings inspired by films and novels such as A Streetcar Named Desire, The Grapes of Wrath and The Kentuckian. The most shocking pieces come in the form of paintings that detail atrocities of World War II, and Benton’s direct representations of violence as well as cultural stereotypes.
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This is the first major traveling exhibition of Benton’s work in more than 25 years. It is an opportunity to consider Benton’s work outside of the usual tropes of Regionalism, and instead to see him as an artist envisioning a cinematic American world.
“American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood” runs through Sept. 5 at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive.
