On View
On viewObject number1977/8.49
Pitching Hay
Maker
Joseph John Jones
(American, 1909-1963)
Date1942
Mediumlithograph
Dimensionsimage: 8 1/2 in. × 14 in. (21.6 × 35.6 cm)
sheet: 12 1/4 × 17 3/8 in. (31.1 × 44.1 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
sheet: 12 1/4 × 17 3/8 in. (31.1 × 44.1 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Cornelia Robinson
Exhibition History"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).Label TextRegionalist art was a celebration of rural Midwestern Americans that reached its maximum popularity during the 1930s because images like these reassured countless Americans despite the Great Depression. Joe Jones’ Pitching Hay represents the kind of Regionalist scene that portrays rural American life that middle-class audiences consumed. However, while many Regionalists were celebrated for idolizing traditional American lifeways and values, Jones was drawn to agricultural subjects as a result of his desire to celebrate workers.
Meanwhile Benton’s distortion of the image in Planting is unsettling. Yet, it celebrates the industry and dignity of the humble farm laborers pictured. Based on a 1938 drawing made in southern Arkansas, Benton looked upon the scene with a nostalgic eye, writing, “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.”
[Label Text: For the People: America at 250 Exhibition, June 27 - October 4, 2026]
