Detail of July Hay by Thomas Hart Benton in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2011

July Hay
Thomas Hart Benton (American, Neosho, Missouri 1889–1975 Kansas City, Missouri)

Date: 1943

Medium: Egg tempera, methyl cellulose, and oil on Masonite

Dimensions: 38 x 26 3/4 in. (96.5 x 67.9 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: George A. Hearn Fund, 1943

Accession Number: 43.159.1

Description:

As one of America's foremost Regionalist painters, Benton celebrated the bounty of the land and heroicized ordinary workers and citizens going about their daily tasks. Painted during World War II, July Hay is a nostalgic look back to simpler, more peaceful times. While the Missouri-born artist often depicted the rural Midwest, this scene is set on Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts where he summered. The composition's structure as well as the materials, technique, and precision reflect Benton's early study of El Greco, fifteenth-century Flemish art, and Old Master painting.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/2100...