The Kentuckian 1954

Thomas Hart Benton made "The Kentuckian" with oil on canvas, and immediately, you get a sense of the artist's process, his engagement with color, light, and form. There's this almost sculptural treatment of figures, they're not just painted, they’re built. Look at the light, how it wraps around the figures, the dog, the landscape – creating a sense of volume. Notice the almost cartoonish rendering of the figures, with their elongated limbs and expressive faces, they’re like characters from a folk tale. Then there's the texture, the way Benton handles the paint, it’s smooth, almost porcelain-like. The way he describes the folds of the Kentuckian's clothes is particularly interesting, almost topographic. He highlights the texture, creating a kind of rhythmical pattern. It’s like Benton's inviting us to see the painting not just as a depiction, but as an object, a thing in itself. I’m reminded of Marsden Hartley, who similarly embraced a kind of rugged, American aesthetic in his work. Benton, like Hartley, invites us to think about art as a conversation.