Throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s, Benton, who left New York in 1935 and settled in Kansas City, Missouri, became closely associated with a movement known as Regionalism, which exalted rural America and tended to disregard contemporary abstract art. Showing two harvesters using old-fashioned scythes to harvest a bumper crop, the painting exhibits the swirling integration of the figure and environment for which the artist is best-known. Benton’s harvesting subject and intense attention to detail recall works by the 16th-century Flemish painter Jan Brueghel, even as it resonated with the sentiment popular throughout World War II (U.S. involvement from 1941 to 1945) that the nation’s farmers were warriors on the home front.
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Artwork Details
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Title:July Hay
Artist:Thomas Hart Benton (American, Neosho, Missouri 1889–1975 Kansas City, Missouri)
Date:1943
Medium:Egg tempera, methyl cellulose, and oil on Masonite
Dimensions:38 × 27 in. (96.5 × 68.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:George A. Hearn Fund, 1943
Object Number:43.159.1
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): Benton '43; signed, dated, and inscribed (verso): 'JULY HAY'/ July 1943/ Benton [Artist's description of media on verso]
the artist (1943; sold through Associated American Artists Galleries, New York to MMA)
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "1943–44 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings," November 23, 1943–January 4, 1944, no. 4.
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Museums' Choice: Paintings by Contemporary Americans," February 2–25, 1945, no. 46.
Hempstead, N.Y. Hofstra College. "The Arts Come to Hempstead," May 6–13, 1945, unnumbered cat.
New York. Brearley School. October 4, 1945–January 3, 1946, no catalogue.
Providence. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. "Museums' Choice," February 8–28, 1946, no catalogue.
Andover, Mass. Addison Gallery of American Art. "Museums' Choice," March 8–April 8, 1946, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Metropolitan and Whitney Museum Accessions," September 17–October 3, 1946, no catalogue.
Norfolk, Va. Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. "Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," December 1, 1946–January 26, 1947, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Juliana Force and American Art: A Memorial Exhibition," September 24–October 30, 1949, no. 8.
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Contemporary Paintings from Great Britain, the United States, and France with Sculpture from the United States," November 10–December 26, 1949, no. 55.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnum. brochure (p. 3).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Columbia Bicentennial Exhibition," October 28, 1954–April 18, 1955, no catalogue.
New York. Wildenstein. "The American Vision: Paintings of Three Centuries," October 23–November 16, 1957, no. 35.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist.
New Britain, Conn. New Britain Museum of American Art. "Edward Steichen: The Innermost Eye," November 4–27, 1966, no. 3.
New York. Marlborough-Gerson Gallery. "The New York Painter, A Century of Teaching: Morse to Hofmann," September 27–October 14, 1967, unnumbered cat. (p. 77).
New York. Graham Gallery. "Thomas Hart Benton: A Comprehensive Exhibition of Drawings, Watercolors, Oils and Temperas," November 26–December 28, 1968, no. 15.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Osaka. Japan World Exposition. United States Pavilion. "Images of America: American Painting," March 15–September 13, 1970, not in catalogue.
Bronx County Courthouse. "Paintings from the Metropolitan, Pinturas del Metropolitano," May 12–June 13, 1971, no. 12.
San Juan. El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. "Arte del Siglo Veinte: EE.UU. del Museo Metropolitano de Arte," April 19–May 31, 1974, no. 11.
Katonah, N. Y. Katonah Gallery. "American Painting 1900–1976. I. The Beginning of Modernism 1900–1934," November 1, 1975–January 4, 1976, no. 2.
Moscow. State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Representations of America," December 15, 1977–February 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "Representations of America," March 15–May 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Minsk, Belarus. Palace of Art. "Representations of America," June 15–August 15, 1978, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Juliana Force's Selections for The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 1–May 11, 1980, no catalogue.
Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville Art Museum. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 9–April 21, 1985, unnumbered cat. (p. 105).
Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Museum of Art. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 5–June 30, 1985, unnumbered cat.
New York. National Academy of Design. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 16–September 1, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Evanston, Ill. Terra Museum of American Art. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 15–November 10, 1985, unnumbered cat.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 12, 1985–January 19, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 9–March 30, 1986, unnumbered cat.
St. Paul. Minnesota Museum of Art. "The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 20–June 8, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Kansas City, Mo. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. "Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original," April 16–June 18, 1989, unnumbered cat. (p. 318).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original," April 29–July 22, 1990, unnumbered cat.
New York. Hirschl & Adler Galleries. "Benton's America: Works on Paper and Selected Paintings," January 19–March 2, 1991, no. 88.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1905–1950," April 19–October 7, 1991, no catalogue.
Berlin. Deutsches Historisches Museum. "Kunst und Propaganda im Streit der Nationen 1930–1945," January 26–April 29, 2007, no. US/20.
Des Moines Art Center. "After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism and the Midwest," January 30–May 17, 2009, unnumbered cat. (pl. 13).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Thomas Hart Benton’s 'America Today' Mural Rediscovered," September 30, 2014–April 19, 2015, no catalogue.
"Museums Acquire 16 Pieces of Art." New York Times (December 30, 1943), p. 15.
Rosamund Frost. "Encore by Popular Demand: The Whitney." Art News 42 (December 1–14, 1943), p. 22.
"Whitney Sales." Art News 42 (January 1–14, 1944), p. 6.
Thomas Hart Benton. Thomas H. Benton. New York, 1945, ill. n.p., dates it 1942.
"Art Exhibit Opens Sunday at Museum." Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (November 30, 1946), p. 3.
Doris Brian. "The Metropolitan's American Policy—A Long View, No Blind Flying." Art Digest 24 (July 1, 1950), p. 9.
Robert Beverly Hale. "American Painting 1754–1954." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12 (March 1954), p. 181.
"As They Saw It: Three From the '30s." Time 63 (March 1, 1954), p. 72.
Albert Ten Eyck Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1957, p. 3.
Alexander Eliot. Three Hundred Years of American Painting. New York, 1957, p. 214, ill. p. 212 (color).
Lloyd Goodrich. "Thomas Hart Benton." New Art in America: Fifty Painters of the 20th Century. Ed. John I. H. Baur. Greenwich, Conn., 1957, ill. p. 133 (color).
George Michael Cohen. "Thomas Hart Benton: A Discussion of His Lithographs." American Artist 26 (September 1962), p. 76, dates it 1942.
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 93–94, ill.
Karen Lambert. "The Farm: It Makes a Rich Palette For the Artist's Brush." Salina Journal (July 9, 1967), p. 32, ill.
Thomas Hart Benton. An American in Art: A Professional and Technical Autobiography. Lawrence, Kan., 1969, ill. p. 119, dates it 1942–43.
Roger Swanson. "Vacation Vistas." Kansas City Star (May 10, 1970), p. 3E, mentions its inclusion in Exh. Osaka 1970.
James F. Pilgrim. Paintings from the Metropolitan, Pinturas del Metropolitano. Exh. cat., Bronx County Courthouse. New York, 1971, unpaginated, no. 12.
Harry Rand. "The 1930s and Abstract Expressionism." The Genius of American Painting. Ed. John Wilmerding. New York, 1973, ill. p. 257.
Matthew Baigell. Thomas Hart Benton. New York, [1974], p. 157, colorpl. 108, dates it 1942.
Henry Geldzahler. Arte del Siglo Veinte: EE.UU. del Museo Metropolitano de Arte/ Twentieth-Century Art: U.S.A. from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. San Juan, 1974, pp. 31–32, no. 11, ill.
John I. H. Baur. American Painting 1900–1976. Exh. cat., Katonah Gallery. Katonah, N. Y., 1975, unpaginated, no. 2, ill., dates it about 1943.
Alden Whitman. "Thomas Hart Benton, Whose Paintings Reflected His Hardy Americanism, Is Dead." New York Times (January 21, 1975), p. 23.
Kathie Beals. "The American Revolutionaries—in Art." Daily Argus (White Plains, N.Y.) (November 7, 1975), p. D3.
"Thomas Hart Benton Dies; Painter of American Scene." New York Times (January 20, 1975), p. 30, ill.
Polly Burroughs. Thomas Hart Benton: A Portrait. Garden City, N.Y., 1981, p. 153, ill. with text between pp. 122 and 123 (color).
John Opie. "Learning to Read the Pioneer Landscape: Braudel, Eliade, Turner, and Benton." Great Plains Quarterly 2 (Winter 1982), p. 27, fig. 4, dates it 1942.
Kathleen Howard, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 1983, p. 419, no. 20, ill. (color).
Lowery Stokes Sims. The Figure in 20th Century American Art: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., Jacksonville Art Museum. New York, 1984, pp. 10, 92, 104–5, ill.
Jacqueline Perelson. "American Art Comes of Age in 20th Century." Standard-Star (New Rochelle, N.Y.0 (January 13, 1984), ill. section C, p. 2.
Leonard Everett Fisher. Masterpieces of American Painting. New York, 1985, pp. 176, 222, no. 72, ill. p. 177 (color).
Wynne Delacoma. "Challenge of the Human Figure: Terra Museum Exhibit Traces a Form Through Modern American Art." Chicago Sun-Times (October 13, 1985), p. 20.
Mark M. Johnson. "The Figure in Twentieth-Century American Art." Arts and Activities 98 (November 1985), p. 26, ill.
John Brandenburg. "Museum's Offerings Tell Story of 20th Century America." Daily Oklahoman/Times (May 30, 1985), p. 15.
Karal Ann Marling. Tom Benton and His Drawings: A Biographical Essay and a Collection of His Sketches, Studies, and Mural Cartoons. Columbia, Mo., 1985, p. 12, dates it 1942.
William S. Lieberman. 20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 1, Painting: 1905–1945. New York, 1986, pp. 56–57, 63, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc. American Paintings IV, 1986. New York, 1986, p. 98, reproduces an oil on tin study for this painting.
Elizabeth Broun. "Thomas Hart Benton: A Politician in Art." Smithsonian Studies in American Art 1 (Spring 1987), pp. 70, 73, fig. 7 (image reversed).
Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 9, The United States of America. New York, 1987, p. 132, colorpl. 100.
Matt Damsker. "The Met Goes Modern: New Wing a Treasure Box, Even If Collection Has Gaps." Hartford Courant (February 11, 1987), p. C7.
Maureen Mullarkey. "Tuesday at the Met." Hudson Review 40 (Summer 1987), p. 201.
Paul Richard. "Mixing It Up At the Metropolitan: Standards & Surprises at the Museum's New Wallace Wing." Washington Post (February 1, 1987), p. F8.
American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture. Sotheby's, New York. May 25, 1988, unpaginated, under no. 252 (study reproduced in Ref. Berry-Hill Galleries 1986), dates this work 1942.
Henry Adams. Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original. Exh. cat., Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo. New York, 1989, pp. 316, 318, 355, ill. (color), dates it 1942 in text and 1943 in caption.
John Garrity. "Spit and Vinegar: At His Centennial, Tom Benton Still Riles the Critics." Connoisseur 219 (April 1989), p. 133, ill. (color).
Donald Goddard. American Painting. New York, 1990, ill. p. 221 (color).
Alan Wallach. "Exhibition Review: Regionalism Redux." American Quarterly 43 (June 1991), p. 267, fig. 2 (installation photo, Exh. Kansas City 1989).
Michael Killian. "Art of the Heartland: Thomas Hart Benton Evokes a Mythic America." Chicago Tribune (January 31, 1991), section 5, p. 11A.
Douglas Dreishpoon. Benton's America: Works on Paper and Selected Paintings. Exh. cat., Hirschl & Adler Galleries. New York, 1991, p. 63, fig. 25.
Carol Troyen. "The Incomparable Max: Maxim Karolik and the Taste for American Art." American Art 7 (Summer 1993), pp. 76–77, fig. 10.
Nancy J. Little. "Another Benton Study Proves Authentic: Prelude to the Metropolitan Museum's 'July Hay'." IFAR Reports 17 (April 1996), pp. 2–4, fig. 2, reproduces another oil on tin study [see Refs. Berry-Hill Galleries 1986 and Sotheby's 1988], calling it the earliest version of this picture.
Lisa Mintz Messinger inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, p. 12, fig. 1.
Nikola Doll inKunst und Propaganda im Streit der Nationen 1930–1945. Exh. cat., Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin. Dresden, 2007, pp. 406–7, no. US/20, ill. (color).
Debra Bricker Balken. After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism, and the Midwest. Exh. cat., Des Moines Art Center. Des Moines, 2009, p. 104, colorpl. 13.
Justin Wolff. Thomas Hart Benton: A Life. New York, 2012, p. 326.
Karen Rosenberg. "Brother, Can You Spare a Wall?" New York Times (October 3, 2014), p. C24.
Henry Adams. Thomas Hart Benton: Discoveries and Interpretations. Columbia, Mo., 2015, p. 67.
Thomas Hart Benton (American, Neosho, Missouri 1889–1975 Kansas City, Missouri)
1937
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