Letter from Overseas

Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton is best known for his anthemic landscapes and scenes of everyday life in the Midwest. His style is readily recognizable for its fluid forms that appear to undulate within his compositions. In Letter from Overseas, Benton imbues the hills, rutted road, and even the clouds with expressive, sculptural form. By dramatically illuminating the woman—reading a letter from a loved one by lantern light—at the center of a landscape convulsing around her, Benton powerfully conveys a moment of calm in an anxious period in American history.