Flood
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton
(American, 1889 - 1975)
Date1937
MediumLithograph
DimensionsPlate: 9 1/8 × 12 1/8 inches (23.19 × 30.81 cm)
Sheet: 11 7/8 × 16 inches (30.15 × 40.64 cm)
Sheet: 11 7/8 × 16 inches (30.15 × 40.64 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Peter T. Bohan
Object number64-34/5
On View
Not on viewCollections
Gallery Label"Along the levees of the flooded basin I came across mangy little knots of somber-faced women looking at their rooftops in the water. It is not difficult to imagine the desperate feeling of these women as they contemplated the dreary mess and equally dreary labor ahead of them." —Thomas Hart Benton
Melting snow and heavy rainfall caused the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to overflow in February 1937. The Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch sent Benton to southeastern Missouri to sketch the devastation. Flood captures the helplessness of two bewildered women separated from their submerged home by a force of nature they can neither cross nor control.
Copyright© Thomas Hart Benton and Rita P. Benton Testamentary Trusts / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information,
is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete.
Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a
particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum.
If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image,
please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.
