Thomas Hart Benton (April 15, 1889 – January 19, 1975), born in Neosho, Missouri, was a Regionalist painter and muralist whose work focused on everyday people in the United States. Born into a family of influential politicians, Benton’s father sent him to the Western Military Academy for two years before Benton rebelled and began work as a cartoonist in the Missouri newspaper Joplin American. He began his formal art education in 1907 at The Art Institute of Chicago and continued at the Académie Julian Art School in Paris. After returning to the United States, Benton began painting murals, particularly state histories. Some of these were considered controversial, because Benton portrayed both the states’ proud and shameful histories. This disregard for politics and his folksy style, removed Benton from large artist communities. Beginning in 1926, Benton taught art for fifteen years at the Art Students League in New York and then at the Kansas City Art Institute. His most famous student during this time was Jackson Pollock. After his stint as a teacher, Benton continued painting murals – though Regionalism had fallen from favor – which focused solely on nostalgia. His artwork is held in such collections as the Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.