Provenance

Thomas Hart Benton

American, 1889 - 1975

Explore Selected Works

From a high vantage point, we look across a valley that rises gently to either side in front of a tall, snowy mountain peak flanked by looming ridges in this horizontal, landscape painting. The curve of the land, the tree branches, and the sinewy lines of the snow along the crevices of the ridges are exaggerated, giving the scene a slightly stylized look. Tiny in scale, three widely spaced horses, two with riders, move from left to right along the valley. The ridge faces are dark earth brown and the snow is pale blue where the sun shines on it, from our right. The face of the narrow, central peak is violet purple, and the sharp tip nearly touches the top edge of the canvas.
Thomas Hart Benton, Trail Riders, 1964-1965, oil on canvas, Gift of the Artist, 1975.42.1

Trail Riders

Thomas Hart Benton · 1964-1965 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1975.42.1

Bibliography

1975

  • Whitman, Alden. "Thomas Hart Benton is Dead." The New York Times (21 January 1975).

  • The Washington Post (28 February 1975): B9.

1989

  • Adams, Henry. Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original. Exh. cat. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, 1989.

  • Hurt, R. Douglas, and Mary K. Davis, eds. Thomas Hart Benton: Artist, Writer, and Intellectual. Columbia, MO, 1989.

2012

  • Wolff, Justin P. Thomas Hart Benton: A Life. New York, 2012.

2015

  • Adams, Henry. Thomas Hart Benton: Discoveries and Interpretations. Columbia, MO, 2015.