Commissioned by the State of Indiana for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, American painter Thomas Hart Benton, known for his realism in depicting everyday American life, created a 250-foot-long mural of Indiana’s culture and industry, illustrating scenes from the state’s earliest day to the Great Depression. Originally displayed as a continuous piece, the mural’s 26 panels were acquired by Indiana University in 1939 and later installed in three buildings: Indiana University Auditorium, Indiana University Cinema, and Woodburn Hall. Of the two panels displayed in Woodburn Hall, "Parks, the Circus, the Klan, the Press” representing Indiana culture in the 1920s with images of a Ku Klux Klan rally and burning cross, has long sparked controversy.
On May 30, Indiana Landmarks’ affinity group Indiana Modern welcomes art historian and author Henry Adams to present an illustrated talk on Benton’s life and work, including an in-depth look at his murals displayed in Woodburn Hall. The Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History at Case Western University, Adams has authored over 400 publications in the field of American art history from Thomas Jefferson to Jackson Pollock. In 1989, in partnership with filmmaker Ken Burns, Adams produced a documentary on Benton, which was broadcast nationally on PBS to an audience of 20 million. He has also written multiple books on the artist, including Thomas Hart Benton: Discoveries and Interpretations (2015).
Want to do more? On June 1, Indiana Modern hosts Back to the Future: A Mid-Century Modern Tour highlighting how modern design developed at Indiana University’s Bloomington campus, including an exclusive look at Woodburn Hall and its Thomas Hart Benton murals, normally covered when the building is open to the public.
(Image Credit: Detail of Thomas Hart Benton mural at Indiana University. Photo by Aaron Bernstein/Indiana University.)
