Thomas Hart Benton

(Missouri, 1889-1975)

Study for Still Life with Silver Vase and Banana, circa 1962

Oil on Windsor & Newton watercolor board 

30" x 22"

Signed to the bottom right corner. This oil was reviewed by Dr. Henry Adams, committee member Thomas Hart Benton Catalogue Raisonné Foundation, who offered the following commentary: "This is a study for Still Life with Silver Vase and Banana. Benton also executed a very similar painting, Still Life with Silver Vase, which is dated 1962, and provides a likely date for the other work still-life, as well as for this oil study. In all these compositions, Benton viewed the table at a perfect right angle, creating a geometric, almost abstract clarity of composition. The formal clarity of the design, however, contrasts with the verisimilitude with which he handled textures, particularly the glossy reflections on the silver vase."

The board is in good condition, noting only slight convex warp toward the edges. There are a number of small paint flakes (apparently the condition as found in the artist’s studio) that have been in-painted, most along the left edge and some in the lower right. The painting was previously coated in an unknown thick clear semigloss layer, which has recently been partially removed: the effect is a blotchy texture across the surface. At some point in the painting’s history, its owner hired an artist to flesh out some detail on the unfinished study; the detail added by another hand was shading on the yellow flower petals, shading on the red flower petals to the right, and shading on the banana. The work is archivally framed by Ward & Ward Custom Framing, the frame is in very good condition.