On one side of this legal tug of war is the family of famed painter Thomas Hart Benton. On the other, UMB Bank, run by the Kemper family. Both parties have filed incendiary lawsuits.
Born in Neosho, Missouri, in 1889, painter Thomas Hart Benton would soon become one of the most important artists in the nation.
He got his start as a political cartoonist at the Joplin American newspaper at the age of 17. By 1907, Benton enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago.
From there his journey as an artist began to flourish, taking him to Paris, California and New York.
By 1924, he found his way back to Missouri to be with his ill father, and his time at home proved to be inspiring as he began to explore Midwestern landscapes and themes in his work.
Benton settled in Kansas City in 1935, and some of his most renowned works are on display here, including “Persephone” and “Independence and the Opening of the West.”
Benton died of a heart attack in his home studio in 1975, but his work lives on. Check out this list of where to find Benton’s masterpieces in the Kansas City area.
Benton’s studio in the Roanoke neighborhood of Kansas City. Jill Toyoshiba jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com
This statue of Thomas Hart Benton stands in front of the Jannes Library at the Kansas City Art Institute, where Benton taught from 1935 to 1941. The sculpture is an enlargement of one by Charles Banks Wilson. Jill Toyoshiba jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com
Kynala Phillips was a Service Journalism Reporter at The Kansas City Star, where she worked to answer readers questions about the resources and services in the community. She attended the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is originally from Madison, Wisconsin.
On one side of this legal tug of war is the family of famed painter Thomas Hart Benton. On the other, UMB Bank, run by the Kemper family. Both parties have filed incendiary lawsuits.
