Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975). Poking Stick in Cotton Gin, circa 1930. Ink, pencil, and watercolor on paper. ...

Description

Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975)
Poking Stick in Cotton Gin, circa 1930
Ink, pencil, and watercolor on paper
14-5/8 x 10-1/4 inches (37.1 x 26.0 cm) (sheet)
Signed lower right: Benton



PROVENANCE:
T.H. Benton Testamentary Estate;
Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, Nebraska;
Private collection, Connecticut, acquired from the above, 2008.

Thomas Hart Benton produced these three consecutive lots--Poking Stick in Cotton Gin, Open Blast Furnace, Pennsylvania, and 14th Street, New York-- during the late 1920s when he embarked on an extensive trip around the United States and filled sketchbooks with drawings he made on site as material for his planned American Historical Epic mural. The American Historical Epic (which he never finished) got delayed when Benton received three mural commissions in rapid succession beginning with his majestic America Today (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art). For that mural completed in 1930, he made many more studies of this type from life, particularly in urban settings. The Blast Furnace almost certainly dates from 1930 when he was drawing in the mills and mines in Pennsylvania.





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