Benton, Thomas Hart (1889 - 1975)

Thomas Hart Benton, Missouri's "regional" artist, died as he lived-brush in hand-just three months shy of his 86th birthday. As the sturdy, stubby bear of a man sat studying a just-completed mural, he tumbled lifeless from his studio chair. Tom Benton was born April 15, 1889 in Neosho, Missouri into the illustrious clan which included Senator Thomas Hart Benton, the great-uncle whose name he bore. Young Tom's father was a Neosho lawyer. He served as U.S. Representative (1896-1904), and later as U.S. Attorney. Hence Tom Benton lived a Huck Finn-like childhood between small-town Missouri and big city Washington, D.C. However, young Tom showed a proclivity not for law, but for drawing. In 1907 he headed for Chicago where he enrolled at age 18 in the Art Institute. Next came Paris, New York and the Navy (where he was flyweight boxer, coal-shoveler and architectural draftsman). Then back to New York to teach at the Art Students League. By the 1930s, Tom Benton had become the most important muralist in America. In 1935 he returned here to teach at the Kansas City Art Institute. A dispute with the school led to his dismissal in1941. But the years following were his most productive and lucrative. With canvases, murals and books, Benton made the big time. The irascible artist lived in casual comfort in a rambling three-story stone and shingle house at 3616 Belleview. There in his carriage house/studio out back, Thomas Hart Benton died on Sunday evening, January 19, 1975. Now his home and studio are open to the public as a museum.