Thomas Hart Benton was the most prominent American Regionalist painter of the 20th century — the man who put the Midwest, its farmers, its workers, and its mythology onto large-scale murals and canvases when Abstract Expressionism was pushing American art in the opposite direction. He lived in this Victorian house in the Roanoke neighborhood from 1939 until his death in 1975, using the carriage house behind it as his studio.
The home is preserved as a state historic site and feels genuinely lived-in. Benton's personal collection of art books, his turpentine cans, his brushes — all still here. The studio retains the working atmosphere of a serious painter's space. Benton's influence on mid-century American art is hard to overstate: his most famous student was Jackson Pollock, who studied under him at the Art Students League in New York. The museum offers guided tours and the visit is brief but affecting.