Art Criticism
Reyes josue
Griffin Middle School
The Wreck of the Ole '97
Painting,1943
The Wreck of the Ole '97 is one of Benton's
landmark paintings. Completed in 1943, this
painting captures the American west and the
disappearance of the Midwestern rural tradition
that Benton sought to record. Benton spent many
years in Kansas from his stint at the Kansas City
Art Institute until his death in 1975, and
Midwestern imagery dominates the majority of
his later works. This work also represents his
desire to represent the common American
experience.
In “The Wreck of the Ole 97”, I see a steam train
racing across the canvas. Coming from the other
direction, there is a wagon being pulled by a horse.
The wagon seems to be moving very fast and there is
a woman falling off of the back of it. The colors
appear realistic at first, but are all lacking complex
value. There is a lot of space created by the plants in
the foreground and the movement of the carriage that
looks like it is traveling back in space towards the
train. The painting is titled “The Wreck”, but to me
the moment the painting capture is just before the
wreck happens.
Movement, emphasis, balance: something to
remain upright and steady.
Movement is shown in the painting cause of the
train racing across the canvas. Also the wagon is
showing movement because the horse pulling the
wagon is trying to stop and a woman is falling.
Emphasis is the train because the title is called
The Wreck of the Ole '97.
Balance is used in this painting cause of the
people falling off the wagon between the train.
The Wreck of the Ole '97 by Thomas Hart Benton
makes me think that the train must of did a lot of
damage. Also the Wreck of the Ole '97 has a lot of
excitement than others in my point of view. The
painting really got my attention because the train
looked like it had some thing interesting.
In my opinion, Thomas Hart Benton’s artwork is
very successful. I never had realized how talented
Thomas Hart Benton had been when he was alive.
His painting is expressive, but still with enough
realism that you can clearly see the subject of the
artwork. The only thing I wish that he had done
differently is that he needed some dark colors.
The painting has no brush strokes but it would be
nice if it had brush strokes but its still ok.