Study for New School Mural (Harrow)
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). The artist carefully studied the mechanics of the disc harrow that appears in the lower left corner of the Deep South mural panel. A predecessor to the modern tractor, this plow was used to prepare the soil for planting seeds. In the mural, Benton shows the farmer holding a rein, indicating that the harrow was pulled by a horse or a mule—not by a modern tractor.
Artwork Details
- Title: Study for New School Mural (Harrow)
- Artist: Thomas Hart Benton (American, Neosho, Missouri 1889–1975 Kansas City, Missouri)
- Date: 1930
- Medium: Graphite on paper
- Dimensions: 10 1/8 × 12 1/2 in. (25.7 × 31.8 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Gift of AXA Equitable, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.425.22
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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Thomas Hart Benton
1930–31
Thomas Hart Benton
1944
Thomas Hart Benton
1943
Thomas Hart Benton
1934
Thomas Hart Benton
1939
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