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Frankie and Johnnie

Thomas Hart Benton

Catherine Burns Fine Art United States

Artwork details

Artist: Thomas Hart Benton
Title: Frankie and Johnnie
Description: Frankie and Johnnie is one of four large lithographs based on Benton’s Missouri State Capitol murals. Derived from a famous traditional folk ballad about a jealous crime of passion, the scene captures the dramatic climax when Frankie fires her pistol at Johnnie in a saloon, amidst fleeing patrons and overturned furniture.
Date: 1936
Medium: Lithograph
Edition: Edition of 100 published by Associated American Artists.
Signature: Unsigned
Catalogue Raisonne: Fath 11. Lithograph on paper.
Sheet: 41 x 56.2 cm
Status: Available
Price: Price on request

The Artist

Thomas Hart Benton

One of the central artists associated with the American Regionalism movement, Thomas Hart Benton strayed from the modernist trend toward abstraction in favor of a more representational, though stylized, approach. A native of the American Midwest, Benton made paintings and drawings depicting the realities of agrarian life and the pressures of industrialization. Benton regularly incorporated quintessentially American icons of progress in his images, including railroads, cars, and factories. Benton’s treatment of this subject matter points to an underlying social commentary on the tension between rural and city life and the disparity between idealized imagery and harsh reality.