Thomas Hart Benton is one of the most important painters of the American Scene movement, Benton created a style and addressed subject matter that was uniquely American as well as specific to his state of Missouri, combining elements of modernism and realism. His signature painting was regionalist genre, especially laboring figures. In addition to many murals, he also painted landscapes and portraits.

He also studied in Paris, lived in New York City for more than 20 years and painted scores of works there, summered for 50 years on Martha’s Vineyard off the New England coast, and also painted scenes of the American South and West.