Benton, ''Hollywood,'' 1937
 

"Hollywood"
Thomas Hart Benton
1937

tempera with oil on canvas mounted on panel
commissioned by Life magazine, which subsequently refused to run it because of the half-naked woman in the center
53.5x81"
Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Benton went to Hollywood on commission from Life magazine to produce a two-page color spread about the film world. He made forty drawings, sketching celebrities as well as anonymous workers in the industry. Benton used the sketches for a painting featuring a scantily clad blonde. Life rejected the picture, publishing instead an article very unlike Benton's vision, filled with glamorous photographs of stars, mansions, and cars.
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This page was last updated December 26, 2006.