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Like Frankie and Johnnie from the same series of lithographs, the story of Jesse James is rooted in actual events that were dramatized through song and legend.
Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man
He robbed the Danville train
He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor
He'd a hand, a heart, and a brain. [2]
In Benton’s treatment of the story, a dark train, animated by a burst of billowing steam and an intense beam of light, divides the composition into background and foreground. James, identified by his dark hat and boots, is shown engaging in multiple heists at the same time. In the foreground the outlaw, with his back to the viewer, holds two figures at gunpoint. In the background, more action unfolds within a stage-like setting; the protagonist stands pointing a rifle in one scene while in another he is on horseback shooting at figures emerging from a bank building.
Although his face is hidden from the viewer, the model used for the figure of James was an actual descendent of the James clan. [3] Despite the known identity of the model, Benton’s placement of the figures imparts anonymity to his hero/villain that intensifies the Jesse James mystique. According to legend, James was an American outlaw, a western Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Yet his actual character and the deeds attributed to him remain hazy. Writing James’s biography in 1931, R.F. Dribble explains: “It was his fortune to be transformed beyond recognition into the rogue-superman, the demon-god, of his time, and to be endowed with fantastic and chimerical qualities—to be a myth and a legend while he still lived in the flesh.” [4] Through the depiction of American myths like the story of Jesse James, Benton sought to construct a history of America that appealed to ordinary people.
Notes:
[1] Creekmore Fath, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1979), 46.
[2] Billy Gashade, “The Ballad of Jesse James,” 1882.
[3] Fath, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton, 46.
[4] R.F. Dibble, “Jesse James,” in The American Journal of Police Science 2, no. 3 (May–June, 1931), 221.
ProvenanceTo 1987
Stuart P. Feld (born 1935), New York, NY [1]
From 1987
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Stuart P. Feld on September 28, 1987. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter from Stuart P. Feld, September 16, 1987.
[2] See note 1. Also, shipping invoice notes works were received September 28, 1987.
Exhibition History2011
Thomas Hart Benton: America’s Master Storyteller
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (3/3/2011 - 7/31/2011)
2018
Outlaws in American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (February 28, 2018 - December 2, 2018)
2022-2023
Prohibition Days: Conserving Thomas Hart Benton's Bootleggers
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (12/2/2022 - 5/28/2023)
Published ReferencesFath, Creekmore, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton. Austin: University of Texas Press: 1979, cat. no. 13.
DepartmentAmerican Art
Jesse James
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton
(1889 - 1975)
Date1936
Mediumlithograph
DimensionsFrame: 28 1/4 x 33 13/16 in. (71.8 x 85.9 cm)
Image: 16 1/4 x 21 7/8 in. (41.3 x 55.6 cm)
SignedBenton
Credit LineGift of Stuart P. Feld
Copyright© 2021 T.H. Benton and R.P. Benton Trusts / Licensed by VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), NY
Object number1987.2.3
DescriptionThe legend of Jesse James is one of several folk stories Benton chose to depict for his project at the Missouri Capitol building. He also selected the vignette for a lithograph, which was circulated by the Associated American Artists of New York. In this western scene, Benton draws from the tradition of history painting to combine multiple events into a single simultaneous composition. [1]Like Frankie and Johnnie from the same series of lithographs, the story of Jesse James is rooted in actual events that were dramatized through song and legend.
Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man
He robbed the Danville train
He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor
He'd a hand, a heart, and a brain. [2]
In Benton’s treatment of the story, a dark train, animated by a burst of billowing steam and an intense beam of light, divides the composition into background and foreground. James, identified by his dark hat and boots, is shown engaging in multiple heists at the same time. In the foreground the outlaw, with his back to the viewer, holds two figures at gunpoint. In the background, more action unfolds within a stage-like setting; the protagonist stands pointing a rifle in one scene while in another he is on horseback shooting at figures emerging from a bank building.
Although his face is hidden from the viewer, the model used for the figure of James was an actual descendent of the James clan. [3] Despite the known identity of the model, Benton’s placement of the figures imparts anonymity to his hero/villain that intensifies the Jesse James mystique. According to legend, James was an American outlaw, a western Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Yet his actual character and the deeds attributed to him remain hazy. Writing James’s biography in 1931, R.F. Dribble explains: “It was his fortune to be transformed beyond recognition into the rogue-superman, the demon-god, of his time, and to be endowed with fantastic and chimerical qualities—to be a myth and a legend while he still lived in the flesh.” [4] Through the depiction of American myths like the story of Jesse James, Benton sought to construct a history of America that appealed to ordinary people.
Notes:
[1] Creekmore Fath, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1979), 46.
[2] Billy Gashade, “The Ballad of Jesse James,” 1882.
[3] Fath, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton, 46.
[4] R.F. Dibble, “Jesse James,” in The American Journal of Police Science 2, no. 3 (May–June, 1931), 221.
ProvenanceTo 1987
Stuart P. Feld (born 1935), New York, NY [1]
From 1987
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Stuart P. Feld on September 28, 1987. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter from Stuart P. Feld, September 16, 1987.
[2] See note 1. Also, shipping invoice notes works were received September 28, 1987.
Exhibition History2011
Thomas Hart Benton: America’s Master Storyteller
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (3/3/2011 - 7/31/2011)
2018
Outlaws in American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (February 28, 2018 - December 2, 2018)
2022-2023
Prohibition Days: Conserving Thomas Hart Benton's Bootleggers
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (12/2/2022 - 5/28/2023)
Published ReferencesFath, Creekmore, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton. Austin: University of Texas Press: 1979, cat. no. 13.
Status
Not on viewCollections