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Born and raised in Neosho, Missouri around the turn of the 20th century, Thomas Hart Benton studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Académie Julian in Paris, before settling in New York. When he returned to Missouri in 1924, he was inspired by the rural subjects and landscapes of his home state. He began creating murals and oil paintings in a new style that departed from the Modernist and abstract styles he had been exploring prior. Benton subsequently became one of the leading figures of the Regionalist movement in America, his works often representing the working class and leftist political views. Alongside his oil paintings and murals, Benton completed 91 lithographs between 1929 and1974. He worked with the Associated American Artists (AAA) to create a set of prints sold through catalogs to middle class Americans for only $5. Label Type
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This lithograph was made in 1938 for the Associated American Artists (AAA) New York City Catalog. The AAA was founded to help promote American art and artists during the Great Depression. They commissioned over 25 artists, including Benton, to create lithographs that were sold through catalog and magazine advertisements, then sent through the mail for around $5 a piece. It seems that this piece was not printed by Benton himself, but by George C. Miller & Son, as indicated by a watermark apparent below the printed signature. This image of a Black man driving a mule-drawn cart down an empty dirt road follows Benton’s recognizable style of Regionalism with elongated forms, curving landscapes, and rural subject matter.