Thomas Hart Benton: A Picture of America in Its Entirety

 

September 9–October 16 Opening reception: Wednesday, September 9, 6–8 PM Our fall season begins with a retrospective exhibition of the work of Thomas Hart Benton, spanning five decades of the artist’s storied career. The exhibition opens in September as part of the gallery’s 25th anniversary program and coincides with the United States Semiquincentennial. This is the first major solo exhibition of Benton’s work in New York in over a decade, following the unveiling of the installation of his iconic mural America Today (1930–31) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014. Thomas Hart Benton emerged in the 1930s as the leading figure in the telling of American stories. In this sweeping tribute to one of the most quintessential visual narrators of the American experience, A Picture of America in its Entirety speaks to Benton’s role as a principal storyteller of 20th century American history and as one of the nation’s greatest artists. Benton’s work was distinctly American in its colorful and dynamic representations of people’s everyday lives and labor. Inspired by his wide-ranging and frequent travel across the country, Benton sought to convey what he described as “a picture of America in its entirety.” Request Preview Thomas Hart Benton Self-Portrait, 1974 Inquire Thomas Hart Benton Trail Riders, c. 1964–65 Inquire Thomas Hart Benton Conversation, 1952 Inquire Thomas Hart Benton Study for “The Kentuckian”, 1954 Inquire Learn More Further Reading Thomas Hart Benton: Biography Art historian and Benton scholar Erika Doss surveys the artist’s accomplishments and lasting impact, affirming his place in the history of American modern art. Read More Notes From a Scholar: Thomas Hart Benton’s Sugar Cane Lauren Kroiz, professor and art historian, offers a deep dive into the historical context and nuanced composition of Benton’s 1945 masterwork. Read More Thomas Hart Benton: Chronology A narrative timeline highlighting key moments in the artist’s life and career, from his birth in 1889 to the present. Read More

Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States

 

Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison 

Sept. 8-Dec. 13, 2006

Economic disparity, labor unrest, gender inequality, racial violence and fears of rising fascism defined the 1930s — and remain strikingly relevant today. The Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison) examines artists’ critical commentaries on the injustices plaguing the country during the Great Depression era in “Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States.” On view Sept. 8-Dec. 13, the exhibition presents approximately 40 rarely displayed prints from the collection of the Krannert Art Museum, who organized the show, as well as six works from the Chazen’s collection.

During the Great Depression, as the country faced unprecedented economic collapse, visual artists were put to work through relief efforts that aimed to provide living wages and bolster the spirits of the general public. The Federal Art Project One (FAP), established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, provided jobs to visual artists, musicians, actors and writers. The FAP was an arm of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), which employed 8.5 million people between 1935 and 1943. Many artists used the opportunity to depict scenes from everyday life while others used the platform to confront the country’s most urgent social and political crises. “Pressing Issues” foregrounds these artists, featuring works from Ida Abelman, John Stuart Curry, Minnetta Good, Harry Gottlieb, Riva Helfond, Carl G. Hill, Joseph Leboit, Nan Lurie and Herman Volz, among others.

“The artists in ‘Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States’ used printmaking as a forceful tool to call out injustices shaping their world,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art and senior director for the arts and media at UW– Madison. “Their work reminds us of the enduring role artists play in confronting oppression and the power of creativity in times of crisis. The Chazen Museum of Art invites visitors to consider

how today’s artists continue to challenge systems of inequality and how art can help us envision a more just and equitable future.”

The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections: fighting for workers’ rights, women at work, condemning racial terror and denouncing fascism. Labor emerged as one of the most prevalent subjects in Depression-era art, often politicized through heroic depictions of male workers or sentimental portrayals of the rewarding value of manual labor. Yet many artists used printmaking to reveal the stark realities behind these narratives, drawing attention to exploitative working conditions — from child labor to the hazardous environments of coal mines and factories — and the daily economic struggles of those barely scraping by. William Gropper’s 1936 lithograph “Sweatshop” captures the bleak, weary faces of factory workers hunched over their machines in a powerful commentary on the exhausting toll of working-class life.

“Child Labor” by Ida Abelman highlights textile production and agriculture as two industries that often relied on child workers in the early 20th century. She visually merges scenes of girls sewing in factories with boys harvesting crops into the shape of a dollar sign, emphasizing how companies profited from underage labor. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act aimed to curb these abuses by regulating youth employment. It banned dangerous work for anyone under 18, limited most jobs for children under 16, introduced a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour and capped the workweek to 44 hours.

Nan Lurie addresses race and unemployment in her surrealist-inspired lithograph “Technological Improvements.” The title refers to new machinery that led to layoffs and fewer job opportunities. The print depicts a line of African American men waiting outside a brick building near a construction site, unaware of a nearby sign that states, “No Help Wanted.” In the background, a giant construction claw appears to eject three ghostlike figures into the back of the formed line, symbolizing workers whose labor is no longer needed.

Prints by Florence Kent, Chet La More and Joseph Leboit portray the struggles of Jewish refugees fleeing Germany, confronting rising fascism and the discrimination they faced amid a period of national isolationism. In “Refugees,” Leboit presents a harrowing scene of people forced to navigate a hostile world without guidance or support. At the center of the print, two women and a child are hunched over, carrying their few possessions as they traverse a desolate landscape of dead trees and destroyed buildings while a fierce wind sweeps around them. The roots of a fallen tree in the foreground seem to trap them, reinforcing the feeling of being both estranged from their homeland and disenfranchised in their new country.

Condemning and exposing the injustices of their time, artists of the tumultuous 1930s boldly used printmaking as a form of protest, commentary and resistance. “Pressing Issues” positions the prints as powerful reminders of the vital role artists play in shaping public consciousness, showcasing art’s ability to document, critique and inspire change.

“Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States,” curated by Kathryn Koca Polite, is organized by Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. “Pressing Issues” is sponsored in part by the College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; the International Fine Print Dealers Association Foundation; and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

Ida Abelman, “My Father Reminisces,” 1937. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government. Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-1.

Riva Helfond, “Custom Made,” 1938. Lithograph. Museum Purchase through the Richard M. and Rosann Gelvin Noel Krannert Art Museum Fund, 2020-3-1.

Florence Kent, “Jewish Refugees,” 1935-1943, lithograph, allocated by the US Government, commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-210.

Chet La More, “Civilians, ” ca. 1937. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-231.

Herman Volz, “Scab,” 1937. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-452.

Ida Abelman, “Child Labor,” 1937. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-4. Courtesy of Krannert Art Museum.

Harry Gottlieb, “Bootleg Coal Mining,” 1937. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-142. Courtesy of Krannert Art Museum.

Nan Lurie, “Technological Improvements,” 1936–1939. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-210. Courtesy of Krannert Art Museum.

Boris Gorelick, “Aftermath,” 1938. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-21. Courtesy of Krannert Art Museum.

Lloyd Wulf, “Street Scene,” 1935–1943. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-484. Courtesy of Krannert Art Museum.

Carl G. Hill, “Newsboy," 1938, lithograph, 11 3/8 x 8 1/8 in., gift of David Prosser, 2021.45.4, Chazen Museum of Art

Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 

May 16–September 13, 2026

Henri Matisse ignited passionate controversy in 1905 with the public debut of Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat) at the Salon d’Automne in Paris. The portrait of the artist’s wife, Amélie, was at the center of a defining moment of rupture in the history of modern art, shocking audiences with its seemingly carefree brushstrokes and bright hues that purposefully departed from observed reality. It was established as the leading image of Fauvism, the first French avant-garde art movement of the 20th century.

From May 16 to September 13, 2026, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will present Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal, a major exhibition illuminating how the painting—now an icon of the museum’s collection—made its mark on art history. Positioning Matisse in dialogue with his peers, subsequent generations, as well as artists working today, the exhibition will examine in greater depth than ever before the painting’s historical context, subject, provenance, circulation through exhibitions and publications, and impact over more than a century.

The exhibition will also explore how the painting marked a pivotal moment in Matisse’s career, as it captured the attention of American expatriate collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein who, while living in Paris, acquired the work on the last day of the 1905 Salon d’Automne exhibition. In 1915, Femme au chapeau made its way to the Paris collection of their brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Sarah Stein, who brought it from France to the Bay Area in 1935. Matisse’s painting was shown in the US for the first time the following year, in an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now SFMOMA) organized by its founding director, Grace McCann Morley. Since entering the museum’s collection in 1991 as a bequest of Levi’s heiress Elise S. Haas, who had purchased the work from Sarah Stein in 1948, it has continued to resonate with contemporary artists, who find inspiration in its bold approach to color and form. Under the terms of its bequest, Femme au chapeau does not travel, making SFMOMA the exclusive venue for this landmark exhibition.

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to share the full story of Matisse’s Femme au chapeau—a painting that is emblematic of the artist’s radical break from convention in the early years of his career,” said Janet Bishop, SFMOMA’s Thomas Weisel Family Chief Curator. “Arguably SFMOMA’s most art-historically significant work of art, Femme au chapeau began sending shockwaves through the art world as soon as it left Matisse’s studio and has captivated viewers ever since. The exhibition will shed light on the painting in more detail than ever before, from its public debut in Paris in 1905, to its years as a must-see painting in Leo and Gertrude Stein’s Left Bank apartment, and, eventually to the walls of SFMOMA.

“Part of our vision at SFMOMA is to encourage our visitors to see the world—and art—in new ways. Matisse’s Femme au chapeau has long been a cornerstone of SFMOMA’s collection; through this exhibition we are able to consider the initial shock and enduring impact of this remarkable artwork through a range of different perspectives,” said Christopher Bedford, Helen and Charles Schwab Director of SFMOMA. “With stunning paintings by Matisse and his peers, as well as work by some of the most exceptional artists working today, this exhibition promises to captivate SFMOMA visitors this spring.”

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS

The heart of the exhibition will restage the public debut of Matisse’s Femme au chapeau in Gallery VII of the 1905 Salon d’Automne in Paris. This gallery inspired the moniker fauve (wild beasts), coined in a review by critic Louis Vauxcelles in the October 17, 1905, issue of the periodical Gil Blas. Designed to echo the architectural context of the Salon, this space will feature work by all 10 of the artists included in the original presentation and will reunite the greatest number of objects from that gallery since 1905. The recreation of this seminal display will illuminate how and why works by Matisse, Charles Camoin, André Derain, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet and Maurice de Vlaminck, among others sparked such heated debate and admiration during their time.

Other galleries will include focused analyses of different aspects of Femme au chapeau’s subject and history. An opening section will introduce the painting’s model, Amélie Matisse, as both a professional hat-maker and partner and close collaborator to Matisse. It will investigate the broader fashions of the time that informed her choice of headwear in the painting. Another explores the painting’s journey from the Paris salon to San Francisco as well as its circulation through exhibitions, and reproductions. Animated large-scale projections of both the Grand Palais and Leo and Gertrude Stein’s Left Bank apartment will provide immersive experiences, fostering further connections between visitors and the early twentieth-century Parisian avant-garde.

The final chapters of the exhibition will trace how artists have responded to Matisse’s painting over time—from works made by his peers such as Jacqueline Marval, Jean Metzinger, Kees Van Dongen, and Maurice de Vlaminck during or in the immediate aftermath of the Salon to those by artists working today such as Hilary Harkness, Rachel Harrison, David Hockney and others.The exhibition also uncovers its impact closer to home on Bay Area Figurative artists like Joan Brown, Richard Diebenkorn and David Park.

Woman with a Hat (Femme au chapeau), painted around 1905–1906 by the French Fauvist artist Maurice de Vlaminck.

Tulipes et vitrail (Tulips and Stained Glass), an oil on canvas painted in 1905 by French Fauvist artist Pierre Girieud. 

André Derain, Henri Matisse, 1905; Tate;© 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), Courtesy of Tate

Fishing Boats, Collioure, an oil on canvas painting created in 1905 by André Derain

Paysage: Les genêts (Landscape: Broom) by Henri Matisse, painted in 1905–1906.

CATALOGUE

A richly illustrated 128-page book will accompany the exhibition, published by SFMOMA in association with DelMonico Books · DAP (Distributed Art Publishers). The volume will examine in unprecedented depth how Henri Matisse’s portrait of his wife Amélie impacted more than a century of art history. Contributors include Janet Bishop, Maria Castro, Claudine Grammont, Alison Guh, and Popy Venzal.

ORGANIZATION

Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal is organized by Janet Bishop, Thomas Weisel Family Chief Curator and Maria Castro, former Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture with Alison Guh, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture.