Object Dimensions: 31 3/4 x 28 in. (80.65 x 71.12 cm)
Credit Line: Museum Purchase, 1971.008
Photo Credit: Jueqian Fang
Verbal Description: This painting is a portrait of three bird-like forms—piñatas—hung in an upside-down, triangular formation. The creatures’ body shapes resemble a peacock with thick, curved necks, pointed beaks, a slight comb at the top of their head, and long, cascading tailfeathers. Their legs are thin, about as along as their bodies, and disjointed like a flamingo. Each bird is a different solid color, starting at the top right and moving clockwise: magenta, grape, and canary yellow. The piñatas are hung by a thin, straight brown line, connecting the top of each bird back to the top edge of the canvas.
Object Dimensions: 6 3/8 x 4 1/2 in. (16.19 x 11.43 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Robert Simpson, 1988.002
Photo Credit: Jueqian Fang
Verbal Description: This oval painting is small, and the ornately carved, gold frame nearly doubles its size. The painting is a portrait of a woman with porcelain-colored skin and light hair that’s mostly covered by her blue head covering and robe. Her hands, also covered entirely by the blue robe, clasp together to form a triangle shape at the center of the composition. One small fingertip on her right hand peaks out. Her head is turned to the right, nearly in profile, and she looks down, her eyes barely open and brow unfurred. Her pink lips are slightly downturned. She also wears a gold scarf, and the background of the painting is gold.
Copyright: Copyright held by Thomas Hart Benton Testamentary Trusts, represented by Artist Rights Society
Verbal Description: This is a somewhat abstracted landscape painting of a small town with rolling hills in the distance. There are not many details; shapes are filled with large swaths of smooth color. The perspective is slightly above the town, perhaps painted from the hillside in the foreground that takes up the right corner of the composition. Protruding from what might be a curved road along this hillside is a telephone pole, but without any wires. Below this road about a dozen house shapes of varying shades of brown and gray, nestled between golden mounds and deep green foliage. At the center of this cluster is what might be church—a white building with a tall frontispiece coming to a point, like a steeple. It looks to be a pleasant day with blue skies and warm light coming from the left and highlighting the town.
