Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens presents `Thomas Hart Benton and the Navy`
(Artdaily.org)

The newest exhibition at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Thomas Hart Benton and the Navy, is on view February 16 through June 3, 2018 and features a series of 24 paintings and drawings that capture the heroic actions and moments of respite that made up life aboard submarines and around shipyards during World War II. As World War II escalated in the early 1940s, American painter Thomas Hart Benton (1889 – 1975) joined the fight by creating dozens of works in support of the nation’s military. This exhibition presents a series he developed behind the scenes as an artist-correspondent in the U.S. Navy. Thanks to Benton’s signature style — bold colors, elongated figures, and rhythmic elements — these paintings, watercolors, and drawings present an optimistic and inspiring narrative of America’s readiness for battle at sea. This story captures the construction of an LST — an amphibious “Lan