Art Collection

Exhibits

Main Gallery

Mark Twain & Tom Benton: Pictures, Prose, and Song

Through August 28, 2010

This exhibit brings together the works of author Mark Twain and artist Thomas Hart Benton whose creative expressions not only epitomized Missouri’s cultural character, but brought the spirit of the Show-Me State to a world audience. At the center of the exhibit are Benton’s original illustrations for the Twain classics published by Limited Editions during the 1930s and 1940s: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Life on the Mississippi. Both men’s work is easily understood, yet complex and evocative – their art was about and for the common people, guaranteeing a timeless appeal. The State Historical Society of Missouri takes special pride in sharing collections of these native sons whose work displays a genius for illustrating the American character through Missouri and Missourians.

Society Art Curator Dr. Joan Stack explains the connection in the Twain/Benton collaboration this way: “Benton illustrates Twain in a deceptively spontaneous style. The drawings capture gesture, expression, and movement with the facility and energy of cartoons. This quality is akin to Twain’s language and dialogue. Benton created a visual style that relates to Twain’s easy, vernacular style. Both the text and the illustrations are carefully crafted but seem simple. Twain and Benton are kindred spirits who made the lives of ordinary Missourians the subject of great art.”

North-South Corridor Gallery

Picturing the Way West:
Landscapes from the Pacific Railway Survey

June 5 – November 30

In 1853, the U.S. Congress authorized preparation of a report examining possible railroad routes to the Pacific Ocean. Several teams of geographers, military men, and artists undertook the survey, and the results of their overland expeditions were published between 1855 and 1861 in the twelve–volume Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.Landscape lithographs in the report introduced the public to the beautiful topography of the American West. This exhibition focuses on images that document the northern continental route, including numerous depictions of Native American settlements and mountain scenery.

Traveling Exhibit

Objects Worthy of Notice: The Wildlife Encountered by the Corps of Discovery

This exhibit presents a look at the rich diversity of wildlife observed by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their 1804-1806 expedition through the newly acquired and relatively uncharted Louisiana Territory. Under instructions from President Thomas Jefferson to record “objects worthy of notice,” the naturalist-explorers scientifically documented 122 new species and expanded knowledge about many others. The elegant and detailed work of naturalists John James Audubon, John Woodson Audubon, and Charles W. Schwartz illustrate engaging excerpts from the explorers' journals.

Online

Main Street, Missouri

A photographic slideshow of images from the 19th and early 20th century.