To better understand the work of Thomas Hart Benton we must first learn about his life from the beginning. Thomas Hart Benton was born in Neosho Missouri in 1889; born in th

that the United States no longer had to look to Europe for modern regional art . This is ironic, however, because in later life Benton became known as the enemy of modernism.

Thomas Hart Benton has done a number of works for both the navy and depicting the westward expansion of the early Twentieth Century American. The Crash (Appendix A) is perhaps the defining work in his set of westward expansion paintings. The Crash is Benton at his best, using each of his unique styles to capture the essence of the moment when a wagon is about to collide with a derailing train near a cornfield in what appears to be the Great American Plains. There is a single white horse pulling a less than decadent wagon, driven by what appears to be a father and son. A woman all in white is falling off the back of the wagon as they impact. A typical Benton painting puts great detail into the surroundings and significantly less into the human subjects. Each aspect of the painting perfectly captures the ideas of Westward expansion. The corn stalks in the fore ground represent the staple crop of the Great Plains as well as the wheat grain growing in the background. If one looks closely at the train tracks the broken wooden post appears to symbolize a mail post, which was the typical means of communication for the era. The wagon is traveling along a rutted dirt road, lined by a barbed wire and post fence, typical of the Western frontier. Lastly, Benton's typical rolling blue sky with stark white clouds is contrasted by thick black smoke belching from the train featured in the picture. This shows how the industrialization was poisoning a clean crisp country, and helped Benton to express his disgust for cities and industrialization. Benton was a big supported of down home goodness, and old country folklore, things expanding into this territory and creating great change were looked down upon by him. Benton's works come from two main categories. The second of these being from his contributions to the Abbot Laboratories collection of United States Navy art. His service in the navy during World War One and his experience in the political scene from his family provided him the experiences and subject matter he would need to create twenty-five masterpieces. Cutting the line (appendix B) is about the release of a completed ship from the harbor for the first time. Although it does not include the same bright colors and blue skies or his Westward expansion works. His use of the rolling skies and wave, coupled with the dark skies capture the moment perfectly. He captures a true slice of American life during the era. The time period was just after war's grim reality was discovered through world war one, and nearing the dawn of world war two. The nation was enthralled in military buildup and Benton captures this enthrallment perfectly. Despite the stormy day, bystanders have shown up on the beach to watch the launching of the ship. Thomas Hart Benton was a truly incredible artist. He captured not only his period in time with striking accuracy, but he was able to impart a piece of himself in the past. By grasping difficult concepts and mastering his skills in artistry, Benton was able to provide the present with the spirit of the past. He was a man of his era, and expanded art in a way similar to those who expanded the nation westward.

The style of Thomas Benton Hart separates him from all other artists. He has a wide variety of trademarks that distinguish his works from others even to the most inexperienced of viewers. Most notably of these is his use of elongated figures. Often times the subjects of his pictures would fill the work from top to bottom. This made them the focus

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