The Arts of Life in America: Unemployment, Radical Protest, Speed

Modern America is a fast-paced world in Thomas Hart Benton’s mural, one of eight panels originally decorating the library of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Cars, trains, and planes crisscross the left end of this long ceiling panel, while in the center, a rally by striking workers turns violent, capturing both the excitement and tensions of the turbulent 1930s. When the Whitney Museum moved to a new building in 1954, Benton’s murals were taken down and sold.

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