Thomas Hart Benton, “People of Chilmark (Figure Composition)”, 1920, Oil on Canvas, 166.5 x 197.3 cm, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC.

Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, Thomas Hart Benton was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, sculpted figures in his paintings showed everyday people in scenes of life in the United States. Though his work is strongly associated with the Midwestern United States, he studied in Paris, lived in New York City for more than 20 years and painted scores of works there, summered for 50 years on Martha’s Vineyard off the New England coast, and also painted scenes of the American South and West.

In ”The People of Chilmark”, one of his earliest paintings, Benton posed his wife, her brother and friends for the figure composition. He explained that the swirling assemblage of figures was a continuation of his Renaissance studies.