Rattlesnakes
This sketch is one of dozens of drawings that Benton used to compose his mural America Today, also in the Museum’s collection (2012.478a–j). He incorporated the coiled snake at the upper right of this sheet into the Midwest mural panel, where it is hiding beneath a railing and ready to strike. The motif may allude to the danger inherent in zealous overproduction for profit—a temptation that seduced many speculators and farmers through the 1920s and caused crop prices to fall dramatically.
Artwork Details
- Title: Rattlesnakes
- Artist: Thomas Hart Benton (American, Neosho, Missouri 1889–1975 Kansas City, Missouri)
- Date: 1926
- Medium: Pen and black ink over graphite on paper
- Dimensions: 7 × 8 7/8 in. (17.8 × 22.5 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Gift of AXA Equitable, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.425.19
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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