Provenance

Owen Gallery

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Six bunches of harvested corn close to us lead back to two people planting fields, which in turn lead back to a red barn and white house in this horizontal landscape painting. The shocks of corn are tied into rounded, pyramidal shapes on a ground streaked with brown dirt and green growth. In the center of the composition and in the distance, a person on a horse-drawn wagon hands a sack or other object down to a person standing at the back of the wagon. Vibrant green hills roll back to red and white structures to the left and a row of dark green trees on the horizon to the right. In the top third of the painting, a wave of white clouds seems to crest against a jewel-blue sky. The curves of the land are slightly exaggerated, giving the painting a stylized look. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Benton 48.”
Thomas Hart Benton, Corn and Winter Wheat, 1948, oil on canvas, Gift (Partial and Promised) of Helen Lee Henderson in memory of Helen Ruth Henderson, Founder, HRH Foundation, 2001.122.1

Corn and Winter Wheat

Thomas Hart Benton · 1948 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2001.122.1