Thomas Hart Benton
by Justin Wolff
A Life
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
52%
Critic Reviews: 9
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
84%
Reader Ratings: 4
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Synopsis
A definitive biography of one of America's most important artistsBorn in Missouri at the end of the nineteenth century, Thomas Hart Benton would become the most notorious and celebrated painter America had ever seen. The first artist to make the cover of Time, he was a true original: an heir to both the rollicking populism of his father’s political family and the quiet life of his Appalachian grandfather. In his twenties, he would find his calling in New... more
About Justin Wolff
Published: March 13, 2012 by Macmillan Publishers
Genre: Education & Reference. Non-fiction. 416 pages
- All Critics: 9
- Positive: 5
- Negative: 4
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Dallas News | 13 Apr 2012
The author... plants the artist in the politics of his time and deftly traces the artistic influences that eventually brought Benton to his mature style
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Kansas City Star | 5 Apr 2012
Wolff’s biography succeeds in recalibrating our appreciation for a quintessential American artist and his perpetually provoking art.
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Kirkus Reviews | 18 Dec 2011
It’s jarring, as is Wolff’s habit of jumping decades ahead in chronology within a single paragraph.
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Review (Barnes & Noble) | 29 Mar 2012
Benton was a bruiser, but in Wolff's hands he can seem positively tender at times.
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Ken Greenleaf | 28 Mar 2012
Reading Thomas Hart Benton: A Life hasn't elicited a desire to see more.
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Publishers Weekly | 21 Nov 2011
This is a lucid and engaging study of the artist’s life in its historical context.
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St. Louis Today | 17 Mar 2012
...a study of Benton's life and work that is both learned and lively
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The Wall Street Journal | 10 Mar 2012
Mr. Wolff fills in the life of Thomas Hart Benton, but his insights don't quite explain the mysterious fascination Benton provoked.
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The New York Times | 29 Jun 2012
Some biographies edit out ambiguity; they want us to love or loathe their subjects. Wolff takes the opposite tack. He lays out all of Benton’s contrarieties, argues them through, prosecuting, defending, and usually leaves them as he found them.
Full ReviewThomas Hart Benton : A Life