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The Boy

Artist Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889–1975)
Title The Boy
Date 1948
Medium Lithograph on paper
Dimensions Image: 9 11/16 × 13 11/16 in. (24.6 × 34.8 cm)
Sheet: 12 × 15 15/16 in. (30.5 × 40.5 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Frank and Becky Hrisomalos, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 2016.5

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About this Work

This scene shows a young man from the Ozarks—like Thomas Hart Benton himself—setting out from home either for school or to find work. Benton noted that in the middle ground both his folks and his horse say “good bye.” While there is something bittersweet about this moment of separation, there is also hopefulness as he sets off on his path to the future. When Benton left Missouri in 1906, he traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago, where he planned to study illustration before turning his attention to painting.


2016, Gift to the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University from Becky Hrisomalos, Bloomington, IN

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

March 18–May 18, 2008, "Homespun America: Regionalist Prints from the Indiana University Art Museum's Collection," Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN

Publisher Associated American Artists

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"The Boy | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2016.5