“I was after a picture of America in its entirety… I ranged north and south and from New York to Hollywood and back and forth in legend and history.” — Thomas Hart Benton
Schoelkopf Gallery presents a retrospective exhibition of the work of Thomas Hart Benton, spanning five decades of the artist’s storied career. The exhibition opens as part of the gallery’s 25th anniversary program and coincides with the United States Semiquincentennial.
This is the first major solo exhibition of Benton’s work in New York in over a decade, following the unveiling of his iconic mural America Today (1930–31) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014. Benton emerged in the 1930s as the leading figure in the telling of American stories, and the exhibition speaks to his role as a principal storyteller of twentieth-century American history through colorful, dynamic representations of everyday life and labor.
Opening reception: Wednesday, September 9, 6–8 PM.
Schoelkopf Gallery