People of Chilmark

People of Chilmark is a social realism 1920 painting by Thomas Hart Benton.^[1] The painting is inspired by Renaissance and mannerist compositions and their chiaroscuro.^[2][3]

Benton first spent the summer of 1920 in the village of Chilmark, Massachusetts in Martha's Vineyard, later serving as the basis of this work.^[2][4] Benton was a regionalist painter who typically depicted everyday people in farm or rural settings.^[5][6]

Benton originally titled the painting Figure Composition. The title People of Chilmark was given later due to its subject matter. Benton was reluctant to give his works titles that would point to a narrative subject matter, preferring generic names.^[2]

The painting shows a group of nine of Benton's contemporary Americans in swimwear at a beach. People depicted include his wife, his brother-in-law, his neighbor, and his close friend Thomas Craven, who is in the top left corner.^[2][5]

In the top center, the painting depicts the first Black man to be in Benton's works. This may be another reference to Old Master paintings, where a singular Black figure appears in a pivotal role in the composition. His face is partially in shadow, as he holds a long pole that draws attention to him through the composition.^[2]

The painting may be a reference to El Greco's Resurrection. In both paintings, the viewer's eye must circle the painting in search of a focus point. Whereas El Greco guides the eye through color on the figures' robes, Benton's likewise uses color on the figures' swimwear and caps.^[3]

The painting's complete lack of abstraction is in contrast to his contemporary modernists, whom Benton strongly disliked.^[5]

Art critic John Canaday said of the painting in 1972:^[4]

ここにはあらゆる要素が少しずつ含まれており、一方の極限はジェリコーの「メデュース号の筏」、もう一方の極限はラファエロの「ボルゴの火事」である。あまりにも典型的なアカデミックな手法なので、その歯車が軋む音が聞こえてきそうだ。しかし、そこがトムが独創的な画家となる境界線なのだ。そして、その構成を、図式に還元してみると、どこにも見られないほど、ポロックの原型とも言える絵画的構図と言えるだろう。