Louisiana Rice Fields
Thomas Hart Benton
American Art
On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Radical Care
Thomas Hart Benton focused on the broad appeal of the commonplace, as seen in this painting of laboring rice harvesters. He described American “types” rather than specific individuals and places, and rendered them in a directly expressive, almost caricatured manner. Benton, and his peers in the American Scene movement of painting that arose in the late 1920s, deliberately abandoned European-derived subjects and urban settings in favor of imagery drawn from the rural United States.
MEDIUM
Egg tempera and oil on Masonite
DATES
1928
DIMENSIONS
30 1/8 × 47 7/8 in. (76.5 × 121.6 cm)
frame: 38 1/8 x 55 7/8 x 3 1/2 in. (96.8 x 141.9 x 8.9 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower right: "Benton"
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
38.79
CREDIT LINE
John B. Woodward Memorial Fund
PROVENANCE
Prior to 1938, provenance not yet documented; by 1938, acquired by Maynard Walker Gallery, New York, NY; May 5, 1938, purchased from Maynard Walker Gallery by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Radical Care
CAPTION
Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889–1975). Louisiana Rice Fields, 1928. Egg tempera and oil on Masonite, 30 1/8 × 47 7/8 in. (76.5 × 121.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 38.79 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 38.79_PS1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 38.79_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2005
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
No known copyright restrictions
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