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Born - April 15, 1889 in Neosho, Mo.
Born - April 15, 1889 in Neosho, Mo.
Died - Jan. 19, 1975 in Kansas City
Died - Jan. 19, 1975 in Kansas City
Early Life
Early Life
Thomas was the oldest child of Maecenas Eason Benton and Elizabeth Wise Benton. He was named after his great-great-uncle, Thomas Hart Benton, the famous Missouri senator. He loved to draw as a child and attended the Art Institute of Chicago for one year after graduating high school. Then in 1908, he moved to Paris, France, and took art classes. Soon he began studying on his own by drawing important paintings inside the museums and painting what interested him outside the museums.
Missouri Connection
Missouri Connection
Benton lived as a child in Missouri, and then in 1924 he returned to Missouri to live and work. The midwest is where he drew his ideas from for his paintings. He took pride in his Midwestern roots and began painting ordinary Americans not often shown in art.
Claim to Fame
Claim to Fame
Famous for his dramatic paintings of the American scene, Benton is best known for his panorama of Missouri history found in the lounge of the Missouri House of Representatives and his Truman Library mural depicting the role of Independence, Missouri in the opening of the West. His paintings are famous for showing ordinary people doing common things.
Later Life
Later Life
Thomas Hart Benton became the leader of a movement in American art called regionalism. Not everyone liked Benton's work. Some people thought he was too outspoken about politics and art. Many Americans, however, truly admired Benton’s work and ideas. He kept painting to the end of his life.
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