Oil Painting - Thomas Hart Benton?

I passed this piece by earlier today. It was advertised as a print, but it was obviously an oil painting. The art work kind of reminds me of Thomas Hart Benton and I'm actually not very far from where he grew up (vacationing in the Ozarks). Any opinions are appreciated. How old is the frame?

 

Image dimensions? I dunno nuffin' about paintings but I can't see raised texture or brush strokes in this one, almost looks like watercolor.

 

I love this painting! That is my only opinion. I don't know about frames, but you might want to show the entire front of the frame to get more opinions on the frame style. The back looks old.

 

I can see that. He illustrated many books so perhaps this is a 'study' or actual original artwork for one.

 

I'm guessing whoever has it is asking for a bit of money. It's the kind of painting I'd buy if it was cheap. The question is: how much is cheap? That's something that gets decided in the presence of the art. I doubt it's Benton. There might be be info under the mat or on its back.

There was a guy on the eBay boards who was doing fairly well selling his own very nice paintings in the style of Benton. Just goes to show how styles are absorbed, disseminated, and ongoing.

If it is Benton, woo-hoo!

Does that look like a plausible Ozarks scene? Are there bridges like that?

 

I agree that it looks like a watercolor rather than an oil painting.

There are printing methods that have been used to mass-produce prints that don't have dots. So without a close inspection, there's a chance it is a print.

 

You may be able to identify an actual location if you look at all the little clues. Mountains may be the Swiss Alps. It is an arch bridge, with cows and maybe a goat crossing, tall coniferous trees around. The herder looks like a black-skinned dude which if so would take us far from the Alps.

Could be this bridge, or another like it.

http://m.shutterstock.com/images/7561459

 

Well, I couldn't resist buying it. I pulled it from the frame to make sure it's an oil first. Here are some better photos. No signature (that I can see). It does have the dimensions 16 1/2" x 25 3/4" penciled on the side. The canvas has been attached to a board.

 

Here are several Benton paintings that have similar features.

 

This is mounted the same way as mine.

 

I like your painting even more after seeing it out of the frame.

 

The artist made good use of all their paint. I can see the brushwork, it is very fine.

 

What I really like about genuine THB works is the undulations -almost surrealistic- he put into all kinds of things-clouds, smoke, foliage, roads, etc . If it was something that could undulate, he'd undulate it. Sal Dali took it a little further and undulated things that don't bend normally like his melting clocks. I like works of both artists even though I know almost nothing about art and only recognize the work of a few of the most famous artists.

 

I like your painting, and think it may be a good sign that it's mounted the same way as the one you found online.

 

I think it's a nice painting, but still doubt that it's Benton. Could be of that period. If I knew of a Benton painting with a similar stone bridge, that would make a difference. I don't know that Benton painted outside the U.S., and I don't think he would invent such an element. I agree with spring that it's more likely the Alps.

The thing here, of course, is that if it is a Benton, it's worth really big bucks. If it isn't, it's not. I don't think it's a Benton.

 

There are actually several stone arch bridges in the Ozarks including a few near his hometown in Kansas City. I'm sure the height was exaggerated. I know the odds are stacked against it being THB. I think an expert should be able to tell if it is after a hands on examination.

http://bridgehunter.com/mo/rankings/

http://m.examiner.net/article/20140529/News/140528756

 

Expert would not need hands-on to tell if the work is THB or not. All you need to do is email photos to any major auction house and ask for a presale estimate-most all of them will give you one without too much delay if they think your item will sell for the minimum that particular place deals with. Instructions for sending photos will be on their website. Doing that would let them assess it even if not a THB- could be some artist unknown to us who has a following somewhere in the flat-art collecting world; the piece shows a lot of skill and is pleasing to look at. My favorite part is the 3-legged brown cow looking at the artist-I think there is a deep but hidden meaning.

 

Sure looks like the same artist with the same style to me. Same pallet colors too.

On the bottom right corner, are there any letters from an old signature?

 

The 5th one down in the examples you listed is actually in a museum here in Jax ! Ive looked at it a 1000 times,in fact it was the reason I started loving Benton ! In my humble opinion,after having seen many of his works all over the united states,yours isn't a Benton,but possibly "in the style of'. it just doesn't have the fluidity he was so known for. its a nice painting nonetheless.

 

A lot of Depression-era paintings by different artists had this type of flowy look. I don't know if there's a term for the genre?

It seems to me it was most represented in the New Deal/WPA murals, and maybe started there?