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Eisenstaedt shows Benton late in life, in front of his own self-portrait, which is behind him to the left. Both likenesses reveal a weathered and heavily wrinkled face, a shock of unruly gray hair swept back, and casual clothing. While the eyes in both instances are directed toward the viewer, their expressions differ. In the painting they are somewhat sad and questioning, while in the photograph they are penetrating and stern. The painted self-portrait is slightly elevated and in shadow as light from the upper left falls on the artist’s head, bringing the photographed face into greater focus and detail.
Benton’s troubled appearance is in direct contrast to his expression in Eisenstaedt’s 1939 photograph, taken in Benton’s classroom at the Kansas City Art Institute as he scrutinizes a nude model for his painting Persephone. The earlier image is visually active, and the painter is fully engaged in the act of painting. At the time, Benton’s career was in its ascendancy as a successful mural and easel painter; he was recognized as one of this country’s great regionalists. His idiosyncratic sinuous style and penchant for dividing his composition into vignettes is amply exemplified in Reynolda House Museum of American Art’s Bootleggers, 1927. Seven years later, as a testament to his success, Benton’s self-portrait was featured on the cover of Life. Eisenstaedt’s 1971 photograph revisits and updates this device and portrays a once-vigorous man toward the end of his career
Painter and photographer knew each other well, and shared at least one passion: Martha’s Vineyard. Eisenstaedt described their relationship: “Benton had a home on Martha’s Vineyard, where I go every summer. He was my friend, and I could do anything I liked with him. Of course, on the other hand, he is the only person who has ever called me Alfie.” [2]
Notes:
[1] Eisenstaedt, quoted in John Loengard, “Alfred Eisenstaedt,” The Digital Journalist, http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9911/loengard.ht
[2] Eisenstaedt, quoted in John Loengard, Life: Faces (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1991), 40.
ProvenanceFrom 1997
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Andrew Smith Gallery, Sante Fe, NM on March 11, 1997. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2011
Thomas Hart Benton: America’s Master Storyteller
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (3/3/2011-7/31/2011)
2022-2023
Prohibition Days: Conserving Thomas Hart Benton's Bootleggers
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (12/2/2022 - 5/28/2023)
Published ReferencesReynolda House Museum of American Art Quarterly Calendar, Fall (August) 1997, pg. 26.
DepartmentAmerican Art
Thomas Hart Benton with self-portrait
Artist
Alfred Eisenstaedt
(1898 - 1995)
Subject
Thomas Hart Benton
(1889 - 1975)
Date1970
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsFrame: 15 1/4 x 18 in. (38.7 x 45.7 cm)
Paper: 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
Image: 9 x 12 1/2 in. (22.9 x 31.8 cm)
SignedEisenstaedt
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightDue to rights restrictions this image can not be enlarged or viewed at full screen.
Object number1997.2.1
DescriptionAs a photojournalist working for Life magazine, Alfred Eisenstaedt was regularly sent out on assignment to follow the news or to track down celebrities. The lifestyle was demanding, as he reminisced to a colleague when he was ninety-four: “I'm rereading my diaries. I cannot believe that any photographer today works as much as I worked in the past. I worked day and night. I arrived sometimes at three o'clock in the morning in Washington. I finished up in the afternoon, and they’d tell me, ‘Go to Detroit’ or somewhere. I slept on trains. I worked day and night.” [1] Occasionally, he got to follow a person over his career, and in some instances became good friends with his sitter. Such was the case with the American regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975). Eisenstaedt shows Benton late in life, in front of his own self-portrait, which is behind him to the left. Both likenesses reveal a weathered and heavily wrinkled face, a shock of unruly gray hair swept back, and casual clothing. While the eyes in both instances are directed toward the viewer, their expressions differ. In the painting they are somewhat sad and questioning, while in the photograph they are penetrating and stern. The painted self-portrait is slightly elevated and in shadow as light from the upper left falls on the artist’s head, bringing the photographed face into greater focus and detail.
Benton’s troubled appearance is in direct contrast to his expression in Eisenstaedt’s 1939 photograph, taken in Benton’s classroom at the Kansas City Art Institute as he scrutinizes a nude model for his painting Persephone. The earlier image is visually active, and the painter is fully engaged in the act of painting. At the time, Benton’s career was in its ascendancy as a successful mural and easel painter; he was recognized as one of this country’s great regionalists. His idiosyncratic sinuous style and penchant for dividing his composition into vignettes is amply exemplified in Reynolda House Museum of American Art’s Bootleggers, 1927. Seven years later, as a testament to his success, Benton’s self-portrait was featured on the cover of Life. Eisenstaedt’s 1971 photograph revisits and updates this device and portrays a once-vigorous man toward the end of his career
Painter and photographer knew each other well, and shared at least one passion: Martha’s Vineyard. Eisenstaedt described their relationship: “Benton had a home on Martha’s Vineyard, where I go every summer. He was my friend, and I could do anything I liked with him. Of course, on the other hand, he is the only person who has ever called me Alfie.” [2]
Notes:
[1] Eisenstaedt, quoted in John Loengard, “Alfred Eisenstaedt,” The Digital Journalist, http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9911/loengard.ht
[2] Eisenstaedt, quoted in John Loengard, Life: Faces (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1991), 40.
ProvenanceFrom 1997
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Andrew Smith Gallery, Sante Fe, NM on March 11, 1997. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2011
Thomas Hart Benton: America’s Master Storyteller
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (3/3/2011-7/31/2011)
2022-2023
Prohibition Days: Conserving Thomas Hart Benton's Bootleggers
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (12/2/2022 - 5/28/2023)
Published ReferencesReynolda House Museum of American Art Quarterly Calendar, Fall (August) 1997, pg. 26.
Status
Not on view