Jesse James
- MAKER:
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton ( American, 1889 - 1975 )
- DATE:
- 1936
General Description
Jesse James and his brother Frank were legendary as contemporary Robin Hood figures who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Here they are shown robbing a bank and a train. To add to the image’s realism, Thomas Hart Benton used Dan James, a descendant of the James lineage, as the model for the foreground figure. Benton was pleased enough with the outcome to issue one hundred prints of the lithograph "Jesse James" through the Associated American Artists Galleries in New York.
Excerpt from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy, 2005.
Web Resources
- Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Learn more about this lithograph from the Reynolda House Museum of American Art.