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February 15, 2007 Thomas Hart Benton’s World War II Paintings Reinstalled Six of Thomas Hart Benton’s World War II paintings, in storage in recent years, have been reinstalled in the Main Gallery at the State Historical Society of Missouri. Benton was horrified by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, and he responded by creating a series of propaganda pictures that he hoped would “wake up the Middle West to the grimness of our national situation.” These large, dramatic, and often disturbing images reflected the resolve, prejudices, and fears of Americans during the early years of World War II. Most of the paintings were donated to the Society by Chicago’s Abbott Laboratories, who reproduced them in the widely circulated 1942 booklet, The Year of Peril. Thomas Hart Benton gave the Society two other related pictures on display.Because of space limitations, the Society is able to exhibit only six of the ten war-themed Benton paintings in its collection. “These are national treasures by a world-class artist,” said Society art curator Joan Stack. “We wanted to make them available to the public.” The Society is located on the ground floor, east side of Ellis Library on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. The Art Gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. posted @ 8:07 AM  back to News & Announcements
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The State Historical Society of Missouri
1020 Lowry, Columbia, Missouri 65201 | 800–747–6366 | shsofmo@umsystem.edu
