- A third steamer Cape Girardeau was christened 100 years ago (3/26/24)
- Cape Girardeau christens its namesake (3/19/24)
- The humanist philosophy of Lester Mondale (3/12/24)1
- Cape Osteopathic Hospital opens its doors (3/5/24)
- 8 killed and a million dollars damage done in 1924 tornado (2/27/24)1
- Jackson's militant priest, county recorder at odds over marriage licenses (2/20/24)
- Streaking fad comes to Cape (2/13/24)2
Thomas Hart Benton
Almost 10 years after Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton completed his Social History of Missouri mural at the state capitol in Jefferson City, the Neosho native paid a visit to Cape Girardeau in the spring of 1944.
The controversial painter lectured to a "well-filled" house in the Little Theater at State College the evening of May 9, and the next morning gave an "assembly talk" at the college.
Here's how the Southeast Missourian treated Thomas Hart Benton's visit to Cape Girardeau.
Published May 8, 1944, in the Southeast Missourian:
Published May 3, 1944, in the Southeast Missourian:
LIMITED CROWD TO HEAR THOMAS HART BENTON IN LECTURE IN GIRARDEAU
Thomas Hart Benton, artist of international renown, who will lecture in the Little Theater of State College next Tuesday night at 8 o'clock, comes at the invitation of Sigma Tau Delta, national honorary English fraternity, sponsored by Prof. Dennis Murphy of the English department of the college.
This will be Mr. Benton's first visit to the college and his first lecture in the city, although the artist is widely known for his provocative talks on art in other parts of the United States. He speaks informally and colorfully, welcoming from his audience questions which he answers on the spot.
Mr. Benton, who is a great-nephew of Missouri's famous first senator and for whom he is named, was born in Neosho in 1889. His father, Col. M.E. Benton, was a lawyer and politician of the old school who came from Tennessee to Missouri shortly after the Civil War, arrived, Tom Benton says, "riding a horse and knocking the snakes out of his path with a long stick."
Wanted Him to Be Lawyer
The colonel tried at first to make a lawyer of his oldest son, but failed; at 18 young Benton got a job drawing cartoons for the local newspaper in Joplin. But his father, still intent upon educating him, got him enrolled in the Alton Military Academy. He remained there for the football season, then struck out for Chicago to study at the Art Institute. From the on (in Paris, in New York, and finally in Missouri) his life has been a prize-fight with art, Benton winning by a knock-out with his murals depicting the American scene. In the field of murals his influence has rivaled that of the Mexican Diego Rivera.
To his service in the Navy during World War I, Benton attributes his renunciation of "precious" painting under Parisian influence and his discovery of robust Americanism. Benton, John Steuart Curry of Kansas, and the late Grant Wood of Iowa comprised the famous trinity of Midwestern artists who gave impetus to the American Scene the of painting.
This movement amounted to an almost complete revolution and was, according to one critic, "the most healthy development in the entire 300 years of American art history." Thereafter, hundreds of painters discarded their trite concern with studio rules and all the -isms, the conventional vase of pretty flowers, and the futility of stillborn still life. They began to paint real life realistically, hoping to find their most valid beauty in truth.
Has Son; Daughter
In 1922, Benton married Rita Piacenza. They are the parents of a son, 17, and a daughter, 8. For the last 10 years they have lived in Kansas City, where the artist is engaged in teaching and painting. Today his work is maturing in technique and growing richer in feeling and color. His most recent painting shows an advance in design, detail and texture.
Concerning Benton, whose art has evoked so much national interest, Prof. Murphy said: "Regardless of whether one likes or dislikes the subject or the treatment of his murals and easel paintings, Thomas Hart Benton remains one of the greatest influences in American art and one of the very greatest creative talents native to our state. He honors our college campus by coming here, and his presence is of immeasurable value. Many years hence our students will remember, after certain campus trivia are forgotten, of having heard and met one of Missouri's most dynamic geniuses."
Tickets to the lecture next Tuesday night are being sold by members of the Sigma Tau Delta. Robert Renfrow, Charline Samons and Ruth Anna Zoelsman are in charge of ticket sales. Since seating capacity in the Little Theater is limited, townspeople who wish to hear Benton should purchase tickets at once. Reservations may be made by calling Miss Bertie Cleino, treasurer of Sigma Tau Delta, at the college.
Published May 10, 1944, in the Southeast Missourian:
VOLLEY OF QUESTIONS FOR NOTED ARTIST AT LECTURE IN GIRARDEAU
A guest of Sigma Tau Delta, honorary English fraternity, Thomas Hart Benton discussed his theories on art and culture Tuesday night in the well-filled Little Theater of State College. Prof. Dennis Murphy of the English department introduced the artist.
Mr. Benton made no formal address. Wearing a grey suit that matched his hair and heavy mustache, and a tie of various shades of blue, he leaned against the speaker's stand and offered to answer the questions which members of the audience cared to ask.
Both questions and answers came thick and fast. They concerned Benton's controversy with the Kansas City Art Conservatory, his ideas regarding surrealism, still life, and non-objective art, and the attitude of the artist toward his public.
The Main Idea
The main idea which the artist attempted to get across was that he does not object to the study by Americans of objects belonging to another culture. This study, he explained, is the chief means by which a student may gain his technical background. Mr. Benton does, however, object to the accumulation of a group of objects representing another culture for an exhibit which is supposed to express American culture.
There are three main influences, Benton said, which have served to bring art before the public during recent years, Mexican, American, and surrealism.
The audience applauded when Benton condemned American cities, especially those in the West, for their "passion of tearing down anything old." "Think twice before you let them do it," Benton advised. The audience also liked his comment on the WPA art projects. In answer to a question, "Are these projects worthwhile?" Benton said that after all of the money that had been sunk in various business concerns in the years before the Depression, there had to be some way for some of the money to come back for the taxpayers.
What Artist Needs
The main thing that an artist needs, Benton said, is "the stimulation that comes from living a life." He disagreed with the conception of the artist as a "half-starved, misunderstood person," and said that he could not answer the question as to exactly when his own art theory had developed.
The famous Benton sarcasm was evident when a member of the Navy V-12 Training Unit in the audience contested Benton's failure to answer in detail what he thought about universality as a quality of art. Benton told the young man that he reminded him of his own son with all of his big words. "I have read a lot of works on the philosophy of art," Benton remarked, "and most of it is a lot of junk."
He smiled, then, and turned to his audience with the closing remark that he "always liked to end on a sour note."
Aside from "lecturing" at the college, Benton spent his day in Cape Girardeau touring the town and the country around it. His sightseeing was organized by Prof. Dennis Murphy, Ruth Kelso Renfrow and J.B. Carpenter. It was noted in a story, "He spent several hours at the Houck country estate (Elmwood), also in visiting other points of scenic interest. Others in the party said he appeared favorably impressed by Cape Girardeau."
His 1944 appearance here was apparently his only visit to Cape Girardeau. At least no other visits were noted by this newspaper. Benton died Jan. 19, 1975, in Kansas City.
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