Minstrel Show
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton
(American, 1889 - 1975)
Date1934
MediumTempera with oil on Masonite
DimensionsUnframed: 28 3/8 x 35 7/8 inches (72.07 x 91.12 cm)
Framed: 39 7/8 x 47 3/8 inches (101.28 x 120.33 cm)
Framed: 39 7/8 x 47 3/8 inches (101.28 x 120.33 cm)
Credit LineBequest of the artist
Object numberF75-21/13
SignedSigned lower right: Benton
Inscribedinscribed on verso upper left: The picture was painted in 1934 from a drawing made of the scene in the West Virginia mountains (see "Artist in America"). The painting was done on gesso (masonite ground) with egg tempera and glazed with oil paint. It has been widely exhibited and has suffered damage several times. A final cleaning and restoration has been made, by my hand, in Feb. '64. Benton
On View
Not on viewCollections
Gallery LabelBenton was one of only a few painters in the early 20th century who addressed racial tensions in America. He based Minstrel Show on a sketch he made after witnessing a performance in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia. Donning blackface makeup consistent with the tradition of minstrelsy, four African American performers entertain their audience through self-demeaning comic parody. Only the boy at the right-hand side seems to bridge the divide between performers and audience. Recognizing the racist implications of this experience, Benton later observed, "it was a rotten affair."
Thomas Hart Benton;
His gift to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1975.
Stuart Davis, “Davis’ Rejoinder,” Art Digest 9 (1 April 1935), 13;
Thomas Hart Benton, exh. cat. (New York: Ferargil Galleries, 1935),
unpaginated; “A Feature of Missouri Artist’s One-Man Show in
New York,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, [1935], clipping, NAMA cura
torial files; Karl Freund, “Thomas Hart Benton, Realist,” Ringmas
ter 1 (November 1936), 34, 36; Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of
Drawings and Paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, with an Evalua
tion of the Artist and His Work, exh. cat. (Chicago: Lakeside Press
Galleries, 1937), 18; “Important Works of Thomas Benton,” Dem
courier 13 (February 1943), 14; Benton Retrospective, exh. cat.
(Omaha, Neb.: Joslyn Art Museum, 1951), unpaginated; Thomas
Hart Benton, exh. cat. (Lawrence: University of Kansas Museum of
Art, 1958), unpaginated; “The Paintings of Thomas Hart Benton,”
Tucson Daily Citizen, 20 October 1962, 1, 15; Thomas Hart Benton:
A Giant in American Art, exh. cat. (Tucson: University Art Gal
lery, University of Arizona, 1962), unpaginated; Robert K. Sanford,
“Tom Benton’s Art Show Recalls Stormy Career,” Kansas City Star,
23 June 1963, 2D; Robert K. Sanford, “Benton Never Fell Off His
Horse,” Kansas City Star, 28 July 1963, 9E; Thomas Hart Benton
Exhibition: A Giant in American Art, exh. cat. (Birmingham, Mich.:
Bloomfield Art Association, 1963), unpaginated; Creekmore Fath,
The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1969), 34; NAMA 1974, unpaginated; Kathleen Patterson,
“Nelson Gallery in Benton Will,” Kansas City Times, 26 February
1975, 1A, 1B; “Tom Benton’s Kansas City Legacy and ‘Persephone,’” Kansas City Times, 28 February 1975, 34; Donald Hoffmann, “Art Talk,” Kansas City Star, 7 March 1976, 3F; “Paintings
from the Thomas Hart Benton Bequest,” Gallery Events (William
Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine
Arts), March 1976, unpaginated; Archie Green, “Thomas Hart
Benton’s Folk Musicians,” JEMF Quarterly 12 (Summer 1976),
74–90; Genre, exh. cat. (Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson-Atkins Museum
of Art, 1983), 17, 32; Thomas Hart Benton: Chronicler of America’s Folk Heritage, exh. cat. (Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Bard
College, 1984), 78; NAMA 1989a, 212; NAMA 1991, 193, Henry
Adams, Thomas Hart Benton: Drawing from Life, exh. cat. (New
York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 123; Randall R. Griffey, “Bingham to
Benton: The Midwest as Muse,” American Art Review 17 (April
2005), 95.
Thomas Hart Benton, exh. cat. (New York: Ferargil Galleries, 1935),
unpaginated; “A Feature of Missouri Artist’s One-Man Show in
New York,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, [1935], clipping, NAMA cura
torial files; Karl Freund, “Thomas Hart Benton, Realist,” Ringmas
ter 1 (November 1936), 34, 36; Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of
Drawings and Paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, with an Evalua
tion of the Artist and His Work, exh. cat. (Chicago: Lakeside Press
Galleries, 1937), 18; “Important Works of Thomas Benton,” Dem
courier 13 (February 1943), 14; Benton Retrospective, exh. cat.
(Omaha, Neb.: Joslyn Art Museum, 1951), unpaginated; Thomas
Hart Benton, exh. cat. (Lawrence: University of Kansas Museum of
Art, 1958), unpaginated; “The Paintings of Thomas Hart Benton,”
Tucson Daily Citizen, 20 October 1962, 1, 15; Thomas Hart Benton:
A Giant in American Art, exh. cat. (Tucson: University Art Gal
lery, University of Arizona, 1962), unpaginated; Robert K. Sanford,
“Tom Benton’s Art Show Recalls Stormy Career,” Kansas City Star,
23 June 1963, 2D; Robert K. Sanford, “Benton Never Fell Off His
Horse,” Kansas City Star, 28 July 1963, 9E; Thomas Hart Benton
Exhibition: A Giant in American Art, exh. cat. (Birmingham, Mich.:
Bloomfield Art Association, 1963), unpaginated; Creekmore Fath,
The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1969), 34; NAMA 1974, unpaginated; Kathleen Patterson,
“Nelson Gallery in Benton Will,” Kansas City Times, 26 February
1975, 1A, 1B; “Tom Benton’s Kansas City Legacy and ‘Persephone,’” Kansas City Times, 28 February 1975, 34; Donald Hoffmann, “Art Talk,” Kansas City Star, 7 March 1976, 3F; “Paintings
from the Thomas Hart Benton Bequest,” Gallery Events (William
Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine
Arts), March 1976, unpaginated; Archie Green, “Thomas Hart
Benton’s Folk Musicians,” JEMF Quarterly 12 (Summer 1976),
74–90; Genre, exh. cat. (Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson-Atkins Museum
of Art, 1983), 17, 32; Thomas Hart Benton: Chronicler of America’s Folk Heritage, exh. cat. (Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Bard
College, 1984), 78; NAMA 1989a, 212; NAMA 1991, 193, Henry
Adams, Thomas Hart Benton: Drawing from Life, exh. cat. (New
York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 123; Randall R. Griffey, “Bingham to
Benton: The Midwest as Muse,” American Art Review 17 (April
2005), 95.
Copyright© Thomas Hart Benton and Rita P. Benton Testamentary Trusts / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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