America Today
Multiple Sections of Thomas Hart Benton’s, America Today, 1930/31. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Don’t ask me why, but it’s taken me more than seven trips to New York to finally go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (probably because I’m not a true art lover). I was pressed on time so I rushed -two and a half hours- through the museum. I usually have a list of pieces I want to see when I go to a major museum, but the MET has so much, I went into the venture with a 'whatever happens, happens’ mentality. One of the pieces I spent the most time appreciating was “America Today” by Thomas Benton.
I’ve been a fan of this piece long before I saw it in person.
Detail of one section.
America Today was commissioned for The New School for Social Research and completed in 1930-31.
It’s a mural consisting of 10 panels/sections. Each section is a depiction of different regions of the United States, and it’s different sectors of work and social life during the ‘roaring’ 1920’s.
Benton wasn’t paid for the commission. He was given only eggs, which he used to make the tempera for the mural itself. (Tempera is a fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with egg.)
The ten sections are divided by silver framing over the canvas in an Artdeco fashion. Even though the Artdeco relief framing is present, each section bleeds into one another harmoniously. Every section, every scene, every subject has so much to offer. They offer a glimpse into their own, as well as showing relevancy to each other.
Detail of multiple panels.
Stylistically, Benton sums up some of the best landscape/’real life’ painting in the early 1930’s.
The mural, while showing daily life in America relevant to the 20’s, has some whimsical aspects, as well as some critiques on America. Commentary on capitalism, America reaching the Great Depression after an economic boom, women’s rights, race relations, different class of workers, cultural differences in America depending on region, and religion all appear within the large composition.
Detail of subway scene.
Today, 100 years after the life depicted in this mural, America is a similar yet greatly different country. Maybe looking into some of the panels can remind us of who we are as a country, what problems we have had and still have; and how are we going to move forward.
V.N
