This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by the Thomas Hart Benton Catalogue Raisonné Foundation. Committee Members: Dr. Henry Adams, Anthony Benton Gude, Andrew Thompson and Michael Owen.


Thomas Hart Benton's The Desert, painted in 1956, exemplifies his ability to capture the atmosphere of the American West. Benton's use of highly saturated colors in The Desert evokes the intensity of the desert sun, while his undulating forms create a dynamic, visually engaging composition. Rather than directly conveying the majesty of the West through sweeping mountain views, as traditionally seen in the nineteenth-century American tradition from artists such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, and Albert Bierstadt, Benton's subtle approach blends two of his favored genres, still life, and landscape, to create a characteristically Western scene. While the background showcases the vast, open expanses typical of portrayals of the West, in the foreground, Benton presents a still-life arrangement of weathered logs, lichen-covered rocks, and an assortment of desert flora, including sagebrush, desert marigolds, and grasses. These elements are rendered in vibrant colors, contrasting against the red rock terrain.

Painted following Benton’s 1951 trip to Arizona, The Desert showcases a marked shift in his artistic focus from the Midwest and South to the sweeping landscapes of the West. Rarely seen or exhibited, The Desert represents a highly finished painting from a period of Western paintings that seldom come to market. Many of Benton's notable works from this period are held in museum collections, such as Desert Still Life (1951) held in collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Open Country (1952) also at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Sheepherder (1957) held in the collection of the American Museum of Western Art, Denver, Colorado, and Trail Riders (1964-1965) at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.