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Kansas City Collections: Art, Antiques, & Jewelry

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  2026-06-27 11:00:00 2026-06-27 11:00:00 America/New_York Circle Auction Circle Auction : Kansas City Collections: Art, Antiques, & Jewelry https://bid.circle-auction.com/auctions/circle-auction/kansas-city-collections-art-antiques-jewelry-21657
Circle Auction presents KC Collections: Art, Antiques, and Jewelry, featuring curated selections from consignors around the region. Included among the fine art selections are Regionalist prints including Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and John Steuart Curry; European and American paintings including Henry Stull, Samuel de Wilde, and Robert Sudlow; and sculpture including Hippolyte Moreau. Fine jewelry and watches including Rolex, Cartier, and Julius Cohen; sterling silver, porcelain, antique French furniture, Continental decorative arts, and movie and comic collectibles. Circle Auction info@circle-auction.com
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Thomas Hart Benton "Old Man Reading" Lithograph (1941)
Lot 31

Thomas Hart Benton "Old Man Reading" Lithograph (1941)

Estimate: $1,000 - $2,000
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Current Bid
$500
[1 Bid]Bidding History
Bid increments chart

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$5,000 $250
$10,000 $500
$20,000 $1,000
$50,000 $2,500
$75,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

Thomas Hart Benton

(American, 1889-1975)

Old Man Reading, 1941

Lithograph on paper

12 1/4” x 10" (image)

Edition of 250

 

Pencil-signed and inscribed "To Mary & Deck" to the bottom margin. Circulated by Associated American Artists, New York City. Not framed, matted to 14" x 18". From the personal collection of Dr. Clarence R. Decker, former President of the University of Missouri Kansas City, who created a visiting artists program at the university that included Benton, and who commissioned the Benton lithograph Prayer Meeting (1949).

 

Of Old Man Reading, Benton wrote: “My Kansas City art students acted as scouts to find good models for our classes. This old man was from one of the small towns near K.C. A painting was made directly from life - the litho was made from the painting. The last I heard of this painting it was in India in the collection of an American doctor who resided there.”

 

Literature: Creekmore Fath, The Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton, 2001 (third edition), University of Texas Press/ Alan Wofsy Fine Arts (San Francisco), 44.

Condition

Very good condition, noting only mild smudging along the right edge of the sheet outside the mat window. The sheet is not laid down.

Overall Dimensions
Height: 14.00 in
Width: 18.00 in
Depth: 0.25 in

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