Ken Burns American Stories

Thomas Hart Benton (1x11)

Air date: Dec 16, 2002

His paintings were burly. Energetic. And as uncompromising as the midwestern landscapes and laborers they celebrated. "Thomas Hart Benton" depicts a self-reliant America emerging from the Depression. Today his works hang in museums. During his life, Benton preferred to hang them in saloons, where ordinary people could appreciate them in congenial settings.