Spring on the Missouri
Artist: Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889–1975)
Date: 1945
Medium: Oil and tempera on masonite panel
Collection: North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, United States
Description
Between the Great Depression and the end of World War II, Benton portrayed scenes of agricultural and industrial labor in rural parts of the country, including the Midwest. In February 1937 he was sent by the Kansas City Star to sketch the flood-devastated region of southeastern Missouri. The artist reported, “the roads of the flood country were full of movers... Every once in a while seepage from under the levee would force evacuation of a house and you would see a great struggle to get animals and goods out of the rising water.”













