Woman 1920

Here we have ‘Woman’ by Thomas Hart Benton, and right away you can tell it’s been made with a real process – the brush marks, the way he’s loading the paint, it’s all right there on the surface for you to see. The colours are bold, aren’t they? That yellow really pops, and then there’s that unexpected pink stripe on her arm. For me, this piece is all about how those material aspects of the painting shape your experience. I’m looking at the way he’s handled that blue fabric she’s holding, how the paint almost seems sculpted onto the surface. It's like Benton is more interested in the way he's constructed the surface of the painting than he is in accurately representing what the figure is actually holding. It reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley’s portraits, that same kind of directness and energy. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what this painting means to you. That’s the great thing about art – it’s an ongoing conversation, and there are no right or wrong answers.