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Planting
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Object number1991/2.28

Planting

Artist (American, 1889-1975)
Date1939
Mediumlithograph
Dimensionsimage: 9 7/8 × 12 5/8 in. (25.1 × 32.1 cm)
sheet: 11 3/8 × 16 in. (28.9 × 40.6 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Richard D. and Marian G. Klein
Exhibition History"A Century of Caring: One Hunderd Years of American Realism," KIA (May 18 - Aug. 3, 1986). "70 Years, 70 Works from the KIA Permanent Collection," KIA (Nov. 19, 1994 - Feb. 10, 1995). "36 Regionalist prints from the KIA," Dennos Museum Center (Sept. 8 - Nov. 24, 1996), Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI. (May 17 - July 13, 1997), Midland Center for the Arts (Aug. 2 - Sept 21, 1997). "Views of the American Landscape: Works from the Permanent Collection," KIA (Dec. 21, 2002 - Jan. 12, 2003). "The American Experience: Prints and Drawings, 1900-1946," KIA (date unknown) "A Curator's Legacy: Helen Sheridan and the KIA Collection," KIA Long Gallery (Dec. 20, 2008 - Apr. 19, 2009). Label TextAfter and early flirtation with modernist art in Paris, Benton returned to the US where he devoted himself exclusively to American subjects. His compositions always show a concern for rhythmic patterning. The vigorous, curvilinear lines in Planting are characteristic of both his paintings and his prints. This lithograph is based on a 1938 drawing made in southern Arkansas. Benton later wrote, “The man plows, the woman sows. Common enough scene up to very lately – maybe it is still to be found. Old ways don’t die easily.”