Thomas Hart Benton Exhibition at Nelson-Atkins Explores Cinematic Themes
Kansas City, MO. Sept. 9, 2015
First Major Benton Show in More than 25 Years
The first major exhibition dedicated to Thomas Hart Benton in more than 25 years takes a thematic rather than biographical approach to the artist’s career, revealing important but overlooked connections between Benton’s art, the movies, and visual storytelling in 20th-century America. American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood was organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, in collaboration with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas. The exhibition runs at the Nelson-Atkins from Oct. 10 through Jan. 3, 2016.
“This is an ambitious and fresh approach to the quintessential American artist Thomas Hart Benton that reveals important but previously overlooked connections between his art and the golden years of Hollywood,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. “For the first time, we are able to see the allure of Benton’s paintings as cinematic narratives in their content and composition.”
This exhibition includes approximately 100 works by Benton: 50 paintings and murals along with a selection of his drawings, prints and illustrated books. In addition, throughout this exhibition, Benton’s art is paired with historic movie clips. These pairings present opportunities to explore how both Benton and filmmakers created engaging visual stories with popular appeal.
The exhibition’s thematic sections—Presenting Benton, Modern Mythmaking, Creating an American Historical Epic, Hollywood Calling, Casting Characters, Painting World War II, Benton at Home and Benton’s Westerns—demonstrate the fascinating relationships between Benton’s art and movie making. American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood invites audiences to explore how artists and filmmakers create visual stories about artistic, cultural, and national identity.
“Concurrent with the so-called golden age of Hollywood, Benton developed a painting style that was cinematic in process, composition and content to express his interest in American people and American stories, broadly defined. His paintings and murals melded elements intrinsic to recent motion pictures with centuries-old European painting traditions that resulted in visually dynamic narratives. These qualities, in addition to Benton’s celebrity status as a nationally acclaimed artist, made his work especially alluring to both the public and Hollywood,” said Stephanie Fox Knappe, Samuel Sosland Curator of American Art at the Nelson-Atkins.
courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY. Art © Benton Testamentary Trusts/UMB Bank Trustee/VAGA, New York, NY.
Around 1917, Benton worked on silent movie stage sets in Fort Lee, New Jersey—the first “Hollywood.” Between 1937, when Life magazine sent the artist to Hollywood on commission, and 1954, Benton painted five major works for projects related to motion pictures. This exhibition is the first to connect these experiences to the rest of the artist’s career. Benton was acutely aware of contemporary storytelling’s shift toward movies, and he achieved his greatest fame during the so-called golden age of Hollywood when more than two-thirds of Americans went to the movies weekly.
A complementary installation to this exhibition opens Nov. 11 in Gallery 214. American Art–In Preparation includes a number of Benton’s preparatory studies to illustrate the artist’s process. This rotation is Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellow Issac Logsdon’s curatorial debut.
“Thomas Hart Benton routinely made a series of preliminary sketches prior to picking up his paintbrush,” said Logsdon. “Drawn from the permanent collection of the Nelson-Atkins, this installation includes a gestural compositional study from an early working process as well as a precise, gridded drawing ready to be enlarged to mural size, among other examples of the artist’s fascinating preparatory works.”
This exhibition has special resonance in Kansas City, where Benton lived and worked in the Valentine neighborhood until the end of his life. Benton’s home and studio are open to the public. His unique presence can still be recalled by many Kansas Citians who knew him well.
The Nelson-Atkins holds the largest collection of Benton’s works, including the painting Hollywood, and his masterpiece, Persephone. Many of these works will be incorporated into the exhibition, American Epics, or will complement the show by being on display in the American Galleries.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities allows free admission to American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood on Thursdays from 5–9 p.m.
Programming in conjunction with this exhibition:
Special Presentation
Epic Thomas Hart Benton
Saturday, October 10
2–3 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
Austen Barron Bailly, George Putnam Curator of American Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, and Mary Schafer, Conservator, Paintings at the Nelson-Atkins, discuss Benton’s dynamic paintings to celebrate the opening day of the exhibition.
Saturday Matinees: American Epics
2 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
The museum screens three classic films connected with Benton’s artistic vision and highlighted in the exhibition. Introductions by noted film scholars precede each screening.
November 7
A Star is Born, 1937
November 14
The Grapes of Wrath, 1940
November 21
The Kentuckian, 1955
Special Presentation
Thomas Hart Benton, Modern Art, and the Movies
Sunday, November 15
2 – 3 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
Join Erika Doss, Professor, American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, as she discusses how the movies inspired Benton’s storytelling sensibilities and his dynamic painting style, and shaped his perspectives on public art and American history.
Third Thursday
Old Hollywood
Thursday, November 19
Your not-so-quiet night at the museum! Honoring the spirit of old Hollywood, November’s Third Thursday includes exhibition-related activities, performances and more.
Kansas City Remembers
Thomas Hart Benton: The Man and the Inspiration
Thursday, December 10
6 p.m.
Lens 2
Hear six five-minute stories about Kansas City’s famous son from those who knew him or have been inspired by him. Then share your own thoughts and reflections with speakers and fellow participants during an intimate remembrance.
The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, organized this exhibition in collaboration with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
The national tour of this exhibition is sponsored by Bank of America.
In Kansas City, this exhibition is supported by Paul DeBruce, Shirley and Barnett C. Helzberg, Jr., the Committee of 100, the Marguerite M. Peet Museum Trust, John and Kay Callison, James B. Nutter & Company, the R.C. Kemper, Jr. Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, Ann and Kenneth Baum, Henry W. Bloch, Nancy and Rick Green, Belger Cartage Service, Inc., the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust, the Hunt Family Foundation, the Sosland Foundation, the Thomas & Sally Wood Family Foundation, the Elizabeth C. Bonner Charitable Trust, the Nelson-Atkins docents and our Honorary Committee.
This exhibition was made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 years of Excellence, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 35,000 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org/.