Huckleberry Finn

Artist Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889 - 1975)

Date1936

MediumLithograph

DimensionsOverall: 16 1/4 × 21 5/8 inches (41.28 × 54.93 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Peter T. Bohan

Object number61-79/1

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Every two or three years I reread Mark Twains [sic] great saga from start to finish, finding it as fresh as when I first read it. With the spirits of Huck and Jim pushing me I have been up and down the Mississippi many times. …I like to believe I’ve caught glimpses of them. It’s certain they’re still there behind some island or up some creek. — Thomas Hart Benton

This lithograph depicts Missouri-native and author Mark Twain’s famous characters of whom Benton was so fond. Just as Huck and Jim led Benton along the Mississippi, Benton leads us through his composition. Circular movement runs from Jim’s upraised arm through Huck and the oar in the foreground, to the steamer and smoke in the background, and returns to Jim through an overhanging tree. The composition is based on a scene from A Social History of Missouri, the murals Benton painted for the Missouri State Capitol in 1936.

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