American Scene Painting and Regionalism

American Scene Painting and Regionalism

(above: Thomas Hart Benton, Achelous and Hercules, 1947, tempera and oil on canvas mounted on plywood, 62.8 x 264.1 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Introduction

This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Scene Painting and Regionalism." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section.

Following are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches.

Following online resources is information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.

Our 59 articles and essays honoring the American experience through its art:

(above: Thomas Hart Benton, Poker Night (from A Streetcar Named Desire), Whitney Museum of American Art. Source: Sharon Mollerus. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

From other websites:

Aaron Pyle was a 1977 exhibit at the Sheldon Museum of Art which says; "In the 1930's when Regionalism was the dominate style in American art, Aaron Pyle studied with one of its leading exponents, Thomas Hart Benton. From Benton he learned a method, a philosophy and a style." Viewers may download the exhibition catalog. Accessed 1/17

Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary - Paintings and Works on Paper, an exhibit held August 24, 2014 - November 30, 2014 at the Gilcrease Museum. Includes images of selected works in the exhibit. Accessed August, 2015.

American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood is a 2016 exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum which says: "For over a century, movies have captured our imaginations, immersing us in the narratives of distant wars, home-town dramas, the wild west, and political intrigue. The same holds true for the works of Thomas Hart Benton. Inspired by Hollywood cinema and human nature, this quintessentially American artist applied the techniques of early movie-making to depict compelling stories in each of his vibrant, larger-than-life paintings." Accessed 8/18

American scene painting from Wikipedia. Accessed July, 2015

American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood is a 2016 exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum which says: "The first major exhibition in more than twenty-five years to feature the life and works of the renowned American painter Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood explores the previously overlooked relationship between Benton's art and movie making." Accessed 3/17

American Regionalism, 25 Social Realists of the 1930s from Artcyclopedia.com. Accessed July, 2015

American Tobacco Company, essay from D. Wigmore Fine Art. Accessed July, 2015

"Art of the Thirties: Rediscovered Masters of the American Scene," by Arthur D. Hittner, from Antiques and Fine Art. Accessed July, 2015

Associated American Artists: Prints for the People is a 2019 exhibit at the Portland Art Museum - Oregon which says: "Rejecting European modernism and abstraction, Lewenthal selected American Regionalist and Social Realist works that explored the communities and lifestyles of everyday people, as well as prominent social concerns of the 1930s and 40s." Accessed 7/19

"California Holiday: The E. Gene Crain Collection" from absolutearts.com. Accessed July, 2015

California Regionalist Art Collectors Club provides information on exhibitions and artists active during the 1930-1970 period. Accessed July, 2015

"California Watercolors" article from The California Style by Gordon McClelland & Jay T. Last, posted with the written permission/consent of the author. Copyright 1985, Hillcrest Press, Inc. from CalArt. Accessed July, 2015

Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism, December 17, 2011 - February 27, 2012 from Georgia Museum of Art. Accessed August, 2015.

Factories, Farms, and Funhouses: Regionalist Paintings by Carl Gaertner is a 2003 exhibit at the Akron Art Museum which says: "During his sojourn through the American countryside, Gaertner created poetic images of beaches, hillsides, and farmland. His rich palette and scratchy, expressive brushstrokes emphasize the diverse colors and textures of the landscape, while his lonely figures and stormy skies reflect feelings of isolation and anxiety experienced by many Americans." Accessed 3/17

Grant Wood's American Gothic web page from Art Institute of Chicago Accessed July, 2015

Interview with E. Gene Crain, Conducted by Susan M. Anderson at the Artist's Law offices in Newport Beach, California, March 7, 20, 21 and May 22, 1999 from Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Accessed July, 2015

Interview With Gordon McClelland, Curator of "Narrative Visions," an exhibition at the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University. The interview was conducted June 6, 2016. McClelland discusses the California Scene paintings collection of Mark Hilbert. The Art Collections at Chapman University blog page for the interview also contains a video. Accessed August, 2016

John Bloom: Visions of Iowa, an exhibit held October 10, 2009 - February 14, 2010 at the Figge Art Museum. Includes image. Accessed August, 2015.

Love of the Land is a 2019 exhibit at the LUX Center for Arts which says: "Gladys Lux is considered a Regionalist artist because much of her artwork depicts American life in rural settings....Artists Joe Jones, Peppino Mangravite, John deMartelly, and Thomas Hart Benton also created images of laboring in fields seen in Love of the Land." Accessed 4/19

Marion Huse: Picturing Pownal is a 2022 exhibit at the Bennington Museum which says: "Marion Huse (1896-1967) was an artist whose work spanned forty years and a variety of styles and subject matter, from Regionalism in the 1930s to a more Expressionistic style that she developed in the post-war years. A native of Massachusetts, she achieved a degree of success unusual for a woman of her day, founding and operating the Springfield Art School from 1925 to 1940 and serving as supervisor of WPA art projects for western Massachusetts from 1936 to 38." Accessed 6/22

"Regionalism - Its role in defining 'American Art'," an article by Jessica Bocinski, posted July 25, 2016 in the Art Collections at Chapman University blog. The article compares Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism. Accessed August, 2016

A Restless Regionalist: The Art of Joe Jones is a 2017 exhibit at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. Essayist Cori Sherman North says: "He was known as an American Scene painter, recording activity in his native St. Louis but also visually commenting on the inequities he saw in everyday life." Accessed 12/17

Reynold Weidenaar: A Retrospective, an exhibit held October 25, 2015 January 17, 2016 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Includes a selection of work via Google Open Gallery and a link to Reynold Weidenaar: An Interactive, a 71-page e-publication available through iBooks. Accessed December, 2015.

Sister Wendy's American Collection web page on Grant Wood's American Gothic from PBS. Accessed July, 2015

Worthy Rivals: Dale Nichols and Terence Duren is a 2018 exhibit at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art which says: "When it comes to Regionalist and Social Realist art, two of the best artists representing these styles are Nebraska's own Dale Nichols and Terence Duren." Also see Wikipedia biography for Dale Nichols, Resource Library essay about Nichols and MONA biography for Terence Duren. To read more after exhibit closes, go to "Past Exhibitions" section of museum website. Accessed 6/18

Online video:

Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art presents the lecture "Reconsidering Regionalism" by Lynn Barstis Williams Katz [48:52]. Accessed May, 2015.

(above: Thomas Hart Benton, Noon, tempera and oil on board, 55.9 x 71.1 cm, Sotheby's. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Books:

American Scene Painting: California, 1930s and 1940s, By Ruth Lilly Westphal, Janet B. Dominik. Published by Westphal Pub, 1991. ISBN 0961052031, 9780961052034. 238 pages

American Scene Painting and Sculpture: Dominant Style of the 1930's and 1940's. Published by D.Wigmore Fine Art, Inc., 1990. 72 pages

American Scene Painting: The Rise of Regionalism, By Susanne Sentell Shepherd. Published by Stephen F. Austin State University, 1979. 146 pages

The American Scene: American Painting of the 1930's, By Matthew Baigell. Published by Praeger, 1974. ISBN 0275466205, 9780275466206. 214 pages

(descriptions courtesy of Google Book Search)

(above: Thomas Hart Benton, People of Chilmark, 1920, oil on canvas, 65.5 x 77.6 inches, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

DVD/VHS videos:

Indiana Murals of Thomas Hart Benton: Visions of the Past, Lessons for the Present and Treasures for the Future, The. Presents the story of the murals painted by Thomas Hart Benton (depicting the history of the state of Indiana from the early Native Americans until the 1930s) from their creation for the World's Fair of 1933 to a major restoration in the 1990s. Includes commentary by art historians and museum curators. c2001. 41 min. Video/C 9353. Available from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley

Thomas Hart Benton is a 60 minute 1988 film from the Ken Burns' America series by PBS. "The turbulent career of Thomas Hart Benton, one of America's most controversial artists, began with experimentation in Expressionism, Cubism, and other European styles abroad. Later, while in the military, Benton was assigned to illustrate army equipment, discovering in the process a realistic style that finally satisfied him. Returning to civilian life, he became a Regionalist painter, portraying Americans as down-to-earth types who expressed their "American-ness" through their everyday actions and their appearance." Director Ken Burns combines samples of Benton's work and interviews with art critics, family, and friends as well as footage of Benton himself. Produced by Ken Burns and Julie Dumphey. (Quote from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

Thomas Hart Benton's Missouri 28 minute / 1992 / FFH - "America's foremost folk muralist, the late Thomas Hart Benton, was at the apex of his career when he painted the Social History of Missouri mural which ambitiously depicts that state's progress from pioneer days to the Depression era. Benton's own narration from recorded interviews is used and supplemented by historian Bob Priddy."

Visions of California: The Story of California Scene Painting, produced by Paul Bockhorst for KOCE Public Television in collaboration with The Irvine Museum, is the 1994 story of California Scene Painting 1925-1950. Bockhorst, working with scores of collectors and dozens of institutions and museums nationwide, has created a three-part series of artistic delight and intellectual insight that features almost 150 works of art.

Who is the Artist? Painters of the American Scene is a Crystal Productions 28 minute video featuring the art of Benton, Hopper and Wood. Students are taught how to recognize the different styles and subjects of these painters of the American scene.

TFAO does not maintain a lending library of videos or sell videos. Click here for information on how to borrow or purchase copies of VHS videos and DVDs listed in TFAO's Videos -DVD/VHS, an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format.

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