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Although Thomas Hart Benton had first been associated with the
circle of Alfred Stieglitz, he began to feel that this group was
too separated from reality, with their "play with colored cubes
and classic attenuations." His service in World War I as a
naval draftsman forced him to make objective records of the navy
yard and installations at Norfolk, Virginia. Upon his return to
New York after the war, he advocated an "American scene"
subject matter, in the face of adverse criticism. This movement,
later called
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"regionalism," gained in popularity and included such prominent
figures as Grant Wood, Sinclair Lewis, and Sherwood Anderson. But Benton's
interpretation of the American scene was unique, calling into play his knowledge
of the dynamic energy and muscular, sinuous line of the work of Michelangelo
and El Greco. |
The Washington Square art show occurred at the end of every summer in New
York, drawing a wide range of artists, collectors, and spectators. Benton
successfully captured the bustling character of the event. The animation
of the figures and the amount of anecdotal information are typical of Benton's
dynamic and compact compositions, which influenced the work of his most
famous student, Jackson Pollock. |
