- 7
Thomas Hart Benton 1889 - 1975
Estimate
200,000 - 400,000 USD
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Description
- Thomas Hart Benton
- Still Life with Spring Flowers
- signed Benton and dated '49 (lower left)
- oil and tempera on board
- 29 by 20 1/2 inches
- (73.7 by 52.1 cm)
Provenance
William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, Kansas City, Missouri (sold: Christie's New York, December 1, 1989, lot 245, illustrated)
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale
Literature
"IFAR [The International Foundation for Art Research] Verifies New Benton Still Life," IFARreports and The Art Loss Register, vol. 16, no. 1, January 1995, p. 4, illustrated fig. 2
Condition
This work is in very good condition. Under UV: there are a couple of spots of inpainting to some cracks in the folds of the fabric directly beneath the vase on the top of the table. There are two areas of inpainting in the background above and to the right of the blue cloth to address some discoloration or staining inherent to the artist's original materials.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Thomas Hart Benton’s Still Life with Spring Flowers is a striking example of the artist’s distinctive aesthetic. Painted in 1949, the work dates to a transitional moment in Benton’s career. Benton was known for the evocative manner in which he painted unflinchingly honest and often satirical images of American society. With the threat of the Second World War impending at the close of the 1930s, however, the character of Benton’s work evolved. He remained thoroughly committed to a realist aesthetic, yet he began to paint subjects that interested him, regardless of their nationalistic undertones or connotations.
Still-life was one of the genres Benton explored with renewed fervor in this period. Still Life with Spring Flowers, painted in a palette of cool blue tones highlighted with passages of fiery red, yellow and orange, displays the sculptural presence and clear sense of vitality that characterize the best of Benton’s paintings. It also shows the new direction the artist’s work took as the imagery Benton uses reveals a variety of European art historical references. The vase of tulips immediately connotes the work of the 17th Century Dutch masters, speaking to his emerging interest in this genre, while the plate, apple and knife express the artist’s long admiration for the work of Paul Cézanne.
Benton’s interest in Cézanne dates to the earliest years of his career, sparked by the acquaintances he made while living in Paris beginning in 1908. Among these influential figures was his fellow American painter Stanton Macdonald-Wright, whose veneration of Cézanne centered predominantly around the visionary painter’s application of warm and cool colors to indicate the advance and recession of space on a two-dimensional surface. Macdonald-Wright, whose ideas on color theory would soon become articulated in the movement known as “Synchromism,” encouraged Benton to similarly immerse himself in Cézanne’s vision of the world, even taking him to the Parc Monceau mansion of a Russian diplomat reputed to own the best collection of the French master’s work in order to study his renowned technique at close hand.
While the imagery of Still Life with Spring Flowers speaks to a diverse range of influences, the style with which it is rendered is classically “Bentonesque.” The work is remarkable for the array of objects and textures the artist depicts. He captures the velvety petals of the tulip blossoms, the beveled surface of the silver dish, and the crisp skin of the apple so that each object possesses its own sense of energy. The leaves of the flowers and the folds of the tablecloth writhe on the two-dimensional picture plane with a sense of active rhythm, ultimately creating a surface that delights the eye and shows the artist's uniquely modern interpretation of this centuries-old subject.
Still-life was one of the genres Benton explored with renewed fervor in this period. Still Life with Spring Flowers, painted in a palette of cool blue tones highlighted with passages of fiery red, yellow and orange, displays the sculptural presence and clear sense of vitality that characterize the best of Benton’s paintings. It also shows the new direction the artist’s work took as the imagery Benton uses reveals a variety of European art historical references. The vase of tulips immediately connotes the work of the 17th Century Dutch masters, speaking to his emerging interest in this genre, while the plate, apple and knife express the artist’s long admiration for the work of Paul Cézanne.
Benton’s interest in Cézanne dates to the earliest years of his career, sparked by the acquaintances he made while living in Paris beginning in 1908. Among these influential figures was his fellow American painter Stanton Macdonald-Wright, whose veneration of Cézanne centered predominantly around the visionary painter’s application of warm and cool colors to indicate the advance and recession of space on a two-dimensional surface. Macdonald-Wright, whose ideas on color theory would soon become articulated in the movement known as “Synchromism,” encouraged Benton to similarly immerse himself in Cézanne’s vision of the world, even taking him to the Parc Monceau mansion of a Russian diplomat reputed to own the best collection of the French master’s work in order to study his renowned technique at close hand.
While the imagery of Still Life with Spring Flowers speaks to a diverse range of influences, the style with which it is rendered is classically “Bentonesque.” The work is remarkable for the array of objects and textures the artist depicts. He captures the velvety petals of the tulip blossoms, the beveled surface of the silver dish, and the crisp skin of the apple so that each object possesses its own sense of energy. The leaves of the flowers and the folds of the tablecloth writhe on the two-dimensional picture plane with a sense of active rhythm, ultimately creating a surface that delights the eye and shows the artist's uniquely modern interpretation of this centuries-old subject.