Hollywood 1938

Thomas Hart Benton's 'Hollywood' painting is an oil on canvas and presents this world to us in an interesting way. You know, looking at this, I'm thinking about how Benton might have approached this canvas. The whole thing is so self-consciously composed, like a film set in itself, with these strong diagonals and theatrical lighting. The paint is applied in a way that's almost sculpted, giving everything a tangible, three-dimensional quality. I can imagine Benton, brush in hand, really relishing the challenge of capturing all these different angles and perspectives. There's this real tension between realism and stylization, which is something I think about in my own work too. How much do you exaggerate? How much do you hold back? It's a constant negotiation. Benton's really playing with that line here, giving us this heightened, almost cartoonish version of reality, and he probably loved every minute of it. And if you look at other painters like David Hockney, you can definitely see some of the same impulses at work.