Art 108
04 February 2015
Descriptive Essay, Independence and the Opening of the West In June of 1958 Thomas Hart Benton signed a contract with the former President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, to provide a mural which would inspire people of all ages while visiting the Truman Library. According to Thomas Hart Benton, “The 1950s had been a bad time for my art,” Benton wrote in a memoir of his time with Truman. “Although I still had a good deal of journalistic support, the art galleries and museums had little interest in my paintings.” Fortunately he added, “My reputation a muralist had survived.” This was to serve President Truman well as he was to commission Benton to create one of his greatest masterpieces by painting the mural at the Truman Library titled, “Independence and the Opening of the West”. This mural according to Thomas Hart Benton, has two different subject matters. The top of the mural, “told in a great sweeping, energetic arc the story of the westward movement of American civilization through the Indian lands west of Independence.” (Geselbracht, 2009) Some of the great things about this mural would be the multiple symbolic figures associated with it, represents real people from the west, and it has the original Missouri river landing where the majority of people arrived heading towards the west. There were several things which struck me when I first encountered this mural, the vivid colors, I also love all the action portrayed in the piece of art. I like what seems to be a different painting at the bottom, two separate pieces of work. The predella, (the bottom 4 foot of the mural) in contrast, was to be a quiet portrait of Independence in the 1840s, with the town courthouse on the right, or eastern, side, and the river landing with a steamboat at the dock on the left, or western, side. In between men, wagons and horses go about the slow work of hauling freight up to the town. Time passes slowly in this scene, or not at all, and it is suffused with a sweet rosy haze. (Geselbracht, 2009) My first impression of the painting, which struck me as I walked into the Truman Library, was that of an overabundance of vivid color. The other was one of the seven elements of art, which is texture. The composition of this piece of art work is very good. By breaking it down into sections (rule of thirds) one can see the balance in the mural and the balance. The last item is the Linear perspective which creates the illusion of depth on a picture plane with the use of lines and a vanishing point. In my opinion Thomas Hart Benton is one of the greatest painters to ever come from our area and in my mind I believe that is the reason President Truman chose him to do the mural at his library. Good Ole Boys from the same area! References
Brian Burnes. (2014, May 16). The president & the painter: The Truman-Benton friendship. Retrieved from Star Magazine-Kansas city Star: http://www.kansascity.com/living/star-magazine/article315679/The-president--the-painter-The-Truman-Benton-friendship.html
Geselbracht, R. H. (2009). Harry S. Truman, Thomas Hart Benton, And the Making of the Mural. National Archives, 41(1). Retrieved from Prologue Magazine.