From the blurb: Yielding to often-repeated requests from students and writers for a more comprehensive account of his technical development as artist than was provided in the largely personal autobiography An Artist in America, Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri here surveys his long and successful career in a professional autobiography which provides clear answers to many questions. His lively portrayal of life among the artists in Paris before the First World War, his good humored and philosophical acceptance of criticism, and his home-grown wit make this book a delight for any reader. With the encouragement of a favorite teacher at the Chicago Art Institute, Benton went to Paris in 1908 where he studied at the Academie Julian and subsequently drew, on his own, at the Academie Collarossi. His paintings of this period reflect his shifting interests-from Impressionism to Abstractionism, yet he failed to satisfy either himself of his peers in the Parisian colony. He then returned to America and began to develop the style for which he subsequently gained national and international recognition, and his philosophy of art as a form of social communication. In the face of all current trends, dictated largely by the school of Paris, he adhered to "the historical representational purpose of western art." He was called "reactionary," "chauvinistic," and "provincial." He was also successful! He began to paint his famous murals, and made as well hundreds of paintings, drawings, and prints celebrating and interpreting American themes. With John Steuart Curry of Kansas and Grant Wood of Iowa, who shared his vision, he developed what was to become known as the American Regionalist Movement. Always articulate and never shying from controversy, he vigorously defended his position against the numerous attacks, political as well as critical, which were leveled against it. His classic essay "American Regionalism: A Personal History of the Movement," which provides an eloquent summary of his stand and his own evaluation of its significance, is reprinted in this volume. The professional training and career of Thomas Hart Benton cover the entire span of this century. His paintings, of which sixty-eight are reproduced here, and which he himself has chosen as representative of his work, occupy a unique place in contemporary American culture. This book will be valued, therefore, by artists, students, and, indeed, anyone interested in Americana.