Coal 1931

Curator: Thomas Hart Benton's "Coal," created in 1931, now resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is an oil painting but also was purposed as a mural, and speaks volumes about the Regionalist movement, showing aspects of narrative art, too. Editor: Woah, the perspective! It's… a little disorienting but mesmerizing at the same time. So much going on—it makes me think about the grit and labor that fuels, literally, our world. It's smoky and strenuous, but also heroic in a way? Curator: Absolutely. We're looking at a time of immense industrial growth alongside profound social inequality. The miner looms large, yes, but the painting contextualizes the entire industry around him—towns built on hillsides, trains filled with ore, huge factories. He’s but a piece, a laboring cog in the machine. Editor: It feels like it flips between romanticizing hard work and showing how draining and inhuman this lifestyle actually is. That muscular figure is front and center, but he is also faceless. Bent. Does it show admiration, or exhaustion? I wonder if Benton worked down in the mines for a bit; there's something knowing about the details here. Curator: Benton sought to depict American life and labor authentically, drawing from observation. His focus on the musculature and tension may be both celebratory of strength and critical of its exploitation within the system. I'm drawn to think about the composition and the stair, which almost looks to be constructed as a broken or unnavigable one for some reason... This feels very intentional on Benton's part, to almost visually disrupt the viewer with all of its discordant architectural points. Editor: Huh. A bit like society, right? Building blocks leading nowhere? Perhaps! It seems dark now, though. And perhaps hopeless. Well, at least for a two minute interlude with the artist's perspective! Curator: Yes. It definitely leaves us with much to mull. Editor: Absolutely, let's let it rumble... and get me out of here.