The Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio Tour is a treasure of artistic connection. The Kansas City residence is intact, a time capsule. The Missouri State Park Service offers this explanation, “Thomas Hart Benton's life is present in both his home and his paintings, and both are preserved at Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site. A trip to the home and studio of the renowned painter, sculptor, lecturer and writer offers a glimpse into how the talented Benton lived and worked. Benton converted half of the carriage house into his art studio, which remains as he left it. Visitors can still see coffee cans full of paintbrushes, numerous paints, and a stretched canvas waiting to be transformed into another of his masterpieces. Thomas Hart Benton died in his studio in 1975” (MSP).
The Benton site is on a tree lined suburban street in the Roanoke district of Kansas City. The home is nestled on a hillside.
The home and studio tour was preceded by a visit to the Nelson-Atkins Museum that included a viewing of Benton’s painting, Persephone. I was engrossed as soon as the tour started. In our party were the guide and three other individuals. A young man was an aspiring architect. I asked my traveling companion, my wife, to list five features of the tour she recalled.
He taught at the Kansas City Art Institute—-He used clay models to work out shadings for his paintings—-His wife Rita was a gracious entertainer, a former student, and one of the biggest champions of his art—-He became well-known after the World’s Fair and a subsequent Time magazine cover story—-His father was a prominent Missouri politician.
These are good points and capture much of the quality of Benton and his life.
He was successful. The arc of his journey included important mural projects. HERE is a link for a Metropolitan Museum of Art video about the acquisition of Benton’s work.
According to our tour guide, his wife Rita had a storage safe built in the basement to protect his art. She acted as a dealer showing and selling paintings in the home. Jackson Pollock, one of his students, became a friend to the family and sometimes watched the kids.
The tour started in the studio. It was fascinating to see how he worked, the simplicity of the space, articles he used, and hear explanations such as gray scale work-up paintings and clay models. He followed a process, his own, throughout his career.
When standing in the studio I was touched considering Mr. Benton working. Upstairs in the house the TV room was special as was the kitchen on the first floor.
By Drew Burgess
Drew Burgess is a studio art and art history professor at the College of Alameda of the Peralta Community College District of California.
Works cited: Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site, Accessed July, 19, 2024, https://mostateparks.com/park/thomas-hart-benton-home-and-studio-state-historic-site
Christopher Noey, Thomas Hart Benton’s mural “America Today” MET collects, YouTube, July 25, 2024, https://youtu.be/p1YLogEztHM?si=aoWjEItba6ExBxT2
Cite this page: Drew Burgess, “Thomas Hart Benton Home Tour and Studio Tour”, July 25, 2024, https://www.drewburgess.art/museum-visits/thomas-hart-benton’s-home-and-studio-tour/
