Analysis Of Romance By Thomas Hart Benton

Romance by Thomas Hart Benton is made with mediums of tempera and oil varnish glazes on gesso panel on board and is 45 1/4 inches by 33 1/4 inches. In this essay, I am going to discuss Benton’s use of composition, color, and texture to create a tranquil mood. When I first looked at this painting I pictured it taking place during the civil rights era, because of the clothing that the people in this painting are wearing. To me, this painting tells the story of a man and a woman taking a casual walk at the end of a work day. The man looks as if he just got out of work and decided to take off his shoes, roll up his sleeves and the bottom of his jeans, and unbutton the top button of his shirt and take a walk with his wife through the grass to talk

The two focal figures are illustrated with complementary colors, the woman 's dress being orange, and the man’s pants being blue. Benton uses these colors to bring life into the painting. The background is made up mostly of earthy colors like, greens, browns, and greys and a light blue for the sky. Benton seems to add white to every color he uses, which gives the painting an opaque look. The deepest hues found in this painting are the blue one the man’s pants and the orange on the woman’s dress, everything else around them looks washed out and Benton does this to emphasize his focal points

His brush stokes are small and careful in the portrayal of grass to create the illusion of wind flowing through it. What also gives the grass a sense of “softness” is that the man looks comfortable enough to take off his shoes comfortably walk through it. Even though the brush stokes look small and soft he is still able to create the texture of stone on the house chimney, the bark on the tree, and the wood on the wheel barrel with these small careful strokes. The painting almost looks as if it would be soft to the touch and the mediums used have a lot to do with it. The gesso panel on wood makes the surface of the painting even and the paint glide easier across the surface, leaving no clumps of painting anywhere. When you put all these aspects put together with my interpretation of what is happening in the painting, a sense of calmness and security was constructed for me. No matter what this couple may be going through at the end of the day they still lean on each other for support. The complementary colors symbolized a sensation of strength between them, the balance of the composition created a stability characteristic, and the smooth and fluid brush strokes created a tranquil energy between the