''The Kentuckian'' is a 1954 painting by American artist Thomas Hart Benton. It is based on a scene from the film '' The Kentuckian'', where the backwoodsman Big Eli Wakefield (played by Burt Lancaster) and his son Little Eli (played by Donald MacDonald) encounter a frontier village. The painting belongs to the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

Creation

The painting was commissioned by the film studio Norma Productions to help promote the film ''The Kentuckian'', directed by and starring Burt Lancaster. Both Lancaster and the producer

Harold Hecht Harold Adolphe Hecht (June 1, 1907 – May 26, 1985) was an American film producer, dance director and talent agent. He was also, though less noted for, a literary agent, a theatrical producer, a theatre director and a Broadway actor. He was a m ...

were admirers of Benton and took the initiative for the commission. Among Benton's sketches for the painting is one version where the characters are drawn as cube-figures.

Provenance

The painting was exhibited at the film's premiere in

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. It was later used on the label of a brand of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

. The painting belonged to Lancaster and was not exhibited in public again until he gave it to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1978. As of 2017, it is not on public view at the museum.

References

External links

''The Kentuckian''
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kentuckian 1954 paintings Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Paintings by Thomas Hart Benton Works based on films Dogs in art