POSTPONED: An Artist at Home in America: Michael Mardikes’ Photographs of Thomas Hart Benton
Due to heightened COVID-19 concerns and travel complications for participants, this event has been postponed at the request of the speaker. We are closely monitoring developments and will reschedule.
Sadly, Michael Mardikes passed away December 29 at age 94. Details on this event will be updated.
In conjunction with an evening reception celebrating the Library exhibit An Artist at Home in America: Michael Mardikes’ Photographs of Thomas Hart Benton, Mardikes sits down with fellow photographer and nephew Nick Vedros to discuss his time with Benton in 1956 and rare glimpse into the famed painter's workspace and home. Of the resulting 1,080 photos Mardikes captured of the famed painter at work and relaxing with his family, only four ever were published.
Many of the photographs chronicle Benton’s work on “Trading at Westport Landing,” a 50-by-89-inch egg tempera on canvas mural commissioned by the River Club in 1955. Mardikes made a point of closely observing Benton at work rather than questioning him about technique, but his images serve as a study in artistic process.
An Artist at Home in America is sponsored by the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts and runs through May 15, 2022.