39: THOMAS HART BENTON (1889-1975) PENCIL SIGNED LITHO

Thomas Hart Benton (Missouri, 1889-1975)
Fire in the Barnyard (1944)
The lithograph from an edition of 250 prints published by Associated American Artists is signed by the artist in pencil below the image lower right, Fath number 64.

Benton's comments in Fath read: 'This picture was made from a memory of my childhood. My grandfather 'Pappy' Wise had a cotton farm a few miles, 5 or 6, out of Waxahachie, Texas and one night when I was about 7 or 8 years old a great light appeared in the sky. It was so great that speculation about the end of the world was bruited about among the grown folks at the farm. As it turns out a straw stack had caught fire on an adjoining farm and some small tool sheds and part of a fence was burned. We all visited the place next morning and heard tell of how the farmer and his sons had got the scared horses of the the barn. Such things are immensely impressive to young uns.'
Image size 8.5 x 13.25, sheet measures 12 x 16, the frame is 19 x 23.25 inches.
Good condition, the full untrimmed sheet, not laid down, no damage, puncture or repair, there is toning from a previous mat around the image and along the top edge of the print as shown in the images here outside the frame.
$1,500 - $2,000