Friday, December 12, 2014

THOMAS HART BENTON at AUCTION: SOTHEBY'S




 Sotheby’s 3 December 2009




Thomas Hart Benton’s Little Brown Jug, circa 1941 (est. $600/800,000), which draws inspiration from Glen Miller’s 1939 recording of a song of the same name. Music became was great passion for Benton, and scenes incorporating musicians, dancing and vignettes based on popular folk songs were often subjects of his canvases. 



 Sotheby’s May 21, 2009 




Thomas Hart Benton’s Sea Phantasy I (est. $400/600,000) was painted for a sports den commissioned around 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Briggs. Briggs was an avid fisherman, and recruited Benton to create a room filled with sea motifs to compliment his trophy fish. Sea Phantasy I was one of four large wall panels the artist created, in addition to a three-part rug and a decorative folding screen. The abstracted forms and brightly colored compositions from this commission are a reflection of Benton’s continued interest in the structure and composition of Japanese prints as well as the Synchromist movement, which was based on the belief that the colors in a painting can be orchestrated in the same harmonious way that a composer arranges notes in a symphony.

Sotheby's 2012




THOMAS HART BENTON
1889 - 1975
LANDSCAPE WITH TRAIN








LOT SOLD. 158,500 





THOMAS HART BENTON
1889 - 1975
MENEMSHA HURRICANE
LOT SOLD. 1,022,500