Thomas Hart Benton: Missouri

"Boomtown" by Thomas Hart Benton

"In March of 1924,  I returned to Missouri to watch over my father, who was dying of cancer in a Springfield, Missouri, hospital. Springfield was in Ozark hill country and its familiar character gave me a nostalgic feeling. The people who came to see my father also affected me by their frank, outgoing friendliness. I made up my mind to see more of them and to regain touch with their country, which, I reflected, was also mine. I guess I began at this time my return to Missouri, though it would be another eleven years before that was accomplished in fact.

In 1926 I made another visit to Missouri, arriving there in early May, and took a three week walking trip through the Ozark Hills making pen-and-wash drawings as I went. This was the beginning of those studies of the American rural scene which would hold so much of my interest for the next fifteen years. It was the beginning of what came to be called my 'Regionalism.'

I developed a constantly repeated formula for this field reporting. After the first few days of my walking trip, I noticed that the drawings in my sketchbooks, which were made with pencil, were beginning to smear. Due to the movements of my walking, the pages of these books were rubbing together, sometimes almost obliterating the drawings. I began, then, a practice of covering the main lines of these with India ink and washing a thin tone of watercolor - sepia or umber - over the rest. The gum in the watercolor held the pencilled modellings. In this way I was able to preserve my material intact for later use.

After completing my Ozark hike, I went out to the West Texas oil country, then 'on the boom.' I made many drawings of the western oil industry and the rough life accompanying it. I carried my explorations on this trip as far west as Santa Fe and Taos, returning east at the end of the summer. A friend put out a strong hand at the Art Students League in New York and procured a teaching position for me there. I taught at the school for nine years, until I returned to Missouri for good."

To be continued

(Excerpts are from "An American in Art: A Professional and Technical Autobiography" by Thomas Hart Benton.)