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

The Art of Looking

Thomas Hart Benton, Trail Riders

Friday, December 2, 2022
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Virtual
Registration Required

Thomas Hart Benton's Trail Riders is the inspiration for this interactive conversation. Join us and share your observations, interpretations, questions, and ideas, and build on your own first impressions to broaden your understanding of this work of art.

This session lasts one hour and is completely interactive. National Gallery educators will facilitate the conversation to create an environment for shared learning. These conversations will encourage you to engage deeply with art, with others, and with the world around you as you hone skills in visual literacy and perspective-taking.

This program is free and open to the public and is designed for anyone interested in talking about art. No art or art history background is required. Ages 18 and over.

Due to the interactive nature of this program, sessions are not recorded.

Live Captions

Live captions (CART) are available in some breakout rooms for this program. Please contact [email protected] to request access or for more information.