Dreishpoon, Douglas (Benton, Thomas Hart)

Catalog: Benton's America, Works on Paper and Selected Paintings (January 19- March 2, 1991)

ISBN: 0915057395
New York, NY: Michael and Winifred Bixler, 1991. First Edition. Softcover. "Mention the name of Thomas Hart Benton and a colorful, larger-than-life image comes to mind: a rough-and-ready artist who vehemently advocated a grass-roots American art; a mural painter; Jackson Pollock's mentor; and an aggressive individual who demanded to be heard. We tend to associate Benton's exploits with a mass audience; his was an art of the people for the people. And his assocations and proclamations made his identification as a quintessential American Scene painter, along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, inevitable. Benton had ambition. He pursued his education, the people he befriended, and the projects he undertook with a deliberate sense of purpose. The product of a politically distinguished family (his attorney father was a U.S. Congressman from Missouri; his great uncle--and namesake--served as a U.S. Senator for thirty years), Benton opened his own career with the fanfare of a political campaign. He realized early on that maintaining a public presence, no matter what the cost, and painting monumental statements in the form of public murals ensured recognition....Benton's own history must be re-read between the lines--contextually. He has a lot more in common with intellectuals like Lewis Mumford, Van Wyck Brooks, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Rosenfeld, and Waldo Frank than he ever admitted and we ever thought" (Abridged Qtn. from p. 9-10). As fulsomely intimated by the block of art-critical prose quoted, above, this gallery catalog -- assembled by the Michael and Winifred Bixler Gallery in 1991 -- takes a smattering of Benton works ("Works on Paper and Selected Paintings," as the title makes clear) and proposes them dashingly alongside new critical contentions about the artist that themselves are worth the price of admission. For individuals interested in Benton’s life and work, this concise yet erudite addition to the Benton Talmud is sure to bedevil with wonderment. From the collection of Barbara (1935-2023) & Irving (1933-2018) Nusbaum - world travelers, connoisseurs, eminent collectors of art & books, and the dearly beloved late parents of our esteemed founder, Arthur S. Nusbaum. Large-format softcover: the first (& only) edition of an excellent T.H.B. gallery catalog. In near fine condition with only mild shelf-wear, light bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; faint rubbing, yellowing, & age-toning to same; also, its binding is a bit more fragile than the clean, well-kept exterior might reveal: no page separation yet, but it’s immediately clear to our veteran eyes that the fragility here mentioned is a production flaw (native to all copies of this particular gallery catalog, not just this one); lastly & also at interior, paper-clipped on p. 29 is the business card of one Debra G. Wieder from Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.; as is our policy at Third Mind Books, we leave all ephemera intentionally AND unintentionally “tipped in” (as We antiquarians say) right where we find them before putting books on offer. All in all, a clean example of a notoriously fragile, oft-unseen THB collectible. Near Fine. [Item #6412]

Price: $40.00