Oral history interview with Thomas Hart Benton
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 46 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: Craven, Thomas, b. 1889
label: Names
content: Ingram, Rex, 1895-1969
label: Names
content: Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Names
content: Reed, Alma M.
label: Names
content: Robinson, Boardman, 1876-1952
label: Names
content: Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946
label: Names
content: Weichsel, John, 1870-1946
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Regionalism
label: Topic
content: Synchromism (Art)
label: Topic
content: Muralists -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was a painter and mural painter.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 68 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1973 July 23-24
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.benton73
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Interview of Thomas Hart Benton conducted 1973 July 23-24, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Benton speaks of his childhood in Missouri and Washington, D.C., working as a newspaper cartoonist, and classes at the Chicago Art Institute (1907-1908) and the Academie Julian in Paris (1908). He discusses the New York art world, painting scenes for silent movies, the "Stieglitz Society," the synchromist and regionalist movements, John Weichsel and the People's Art Guild, teaching at the Art Students League and the Kansas City Art Institute, murals and mural techniques, lithographic illustrations, drawings, and World War II propaganda posters. He recalls Thomas Craven, Rex Ingram, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Jackson Pollock, Alma Reed, Boardman Robinson, and others.