Trail Riders

Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was an American painter and muralist, a leading figure of the Regionalist movement known for his rhythmic, sculptural paintings of American life and landscape. Trail Riders from 1964-65 is one of Benton's late works, depicting riders on horseback in a mountain landscape with the rhythmic composition and sculptural modeling that distinguish his best work. The 1964-65 date places this in Benton's late period, when he was still producing the energetic, rhythmically composed paintings of American life that had made him famous since the 1930s, and the trail riding subject reflects Benton's lifelong interest in the American West and its landscape.

Trail Riders is important in Benton's late oeuvre because it demonstrates the rhythmic composition and sculptural modeling that he maintained throughout his long career. The 1964-65 painting shows that Benton's Regionalist manner—the rhythmic composition, the sculptural modeling, the celebration of American life—had not diminished in energy or invention in his late period, and the trail riding subject reflects his lifelong interest in the American landscape and the people who inhabit it.

Trail Riders is Benton's Regionalist energy undiminished: riders on horseback in a mountain landscape rendered with the rhythmic composition and sculptural modeling that distinguish his best work. The 1964-65 late painting shows that Benton's celebration of American life and landscape had lost none of its energy or invention in his late period.