Thomas Hart Benton

(American, 1889-1975)

Planting (Spring Plowing), c. 1939-40

watercolor and graphite on paper

signed Benton (lower left)

18 x 21 ¾ inches.

Property from the Collection of Lon and Wilmia Ramsey, Winnetka, Illinois

We would like to thank the Thomas Hart Benton Catalogue Raisonné Foundation for authenticating this lot. The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by The Thomas Hart Benton Catalogue Raisonné Foundation. Committee Members: Dr. Henry Adams, Jessie Benton, Anthony Benton Gude, Andrew Thompson, and Michael Owen.

This watercolor is accompanied by two letters written by Thomas Hart Benton to Lon Ramsey, as well as a photograph showing the artwork and which bears an inscription by the artist on the verso.

Provenance:

Lon and Wilmia Ramsey, Winnetka, Illinois, by 1968

By descent to the present owner

Exhibited:

New York, Associated American Artists Galleries, Thomas Benton, April 9 - May 3, 1941, no. 12

Lot note:

Thomas Hart Benton, painter of American life and history, was a restless man with seemingly endless energy for travel. As a child, he grew up listening to stories of his maternal grandfather, Pappy Wise, and his affliction with "foot itch" that led him to ramble throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Texas. His own father, a U.S. representative for Missouri, likewise nostalgically reminisced of his travels during his Ozark campaigns. After his father's death in 1924, Benton was inspired to go on his own journeys to see for himself the variety and picturesqueness of the people of America. He traveled throughout the Ozarks and Texas during the 1920s and 1930s. On these trips, Benton sketched scenes in pencil that he would then go over with pen and wash in the evenings, in order to make the designs more durable and enhance the sculptural effect. He would then use the works as materials for his paintings.

Planting (Spring Plowing), c. 1939-40 is one such watercolor. According to a 1968 letter written by the artist to Lon Ramsey, there are three known versions of this picture: the present watercolor, an oil tempera (location unknown), and a lithograph. The lithograph was published in 1939 by Associated American Artists as part of its plan to make fine art prints affordable to the upper and middle classes, with a focus on the “American Scene” in order to appeal to a broad audience. In the note that accompanies the print of Planting (Spring Plowing) in Creekmore Fath’s book on Benton lithographs, Benton states that he based the lithograph on a drawing he made in southern Arkansas in 1938. He goes on to say, “The man plows, the woman sows. Common enough theme up until lately—maybe it is still to be found. Old ways don’t die easily” (Creekmore Fath, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton, Austin, Texas, 1969, p. 76).

In both the print and present watercolor, the artist has captured a traditional farm scene and imbued it with a uniquely Southern flavor. He also realized he was witnessing and recording a disappearing way of life. Life in the Deep South had been dominated by “King Cotton” for generations, resulting in isolated communities and rural areas entombed in social patterns from the 19th century. This way of life was gradually changing in the 1920s and 1930s, but as Benton noted for the print, “old ways don’t die easily.” In the present watercolor, the red soil roils up as if it is a wave of earth and the two figures brace their bodies in response. In contrast, the mule, a distinctly American draft animal, plods on, unperturbed. The artist had a particular affection for mules, once commenting, “You know, the mule is a damned dramatic animal.” The dynamism of the scene is further emphasized by the sweeping clouds in the sky and curved logs in the foreground. Although the man and woman are clearly living a hardscrabble life, the bold, sculptural composition monumentalizes them and the land they on which they work. Benton’s sensitive portrayal emphasizes the self-reliance and strength of the farmers and made them into distinctly American heroes.

Planting (Spring Plowing), c. 1939-40