Anthony Benton Gude

Anthony Benton Gude (b. 1963)

“I guess I must have absorbed a lot growing up around (Benton) and his paintings. Many years later while attending art school, my instructors would often refer to the work of my granddad when looking over my drawings, not knowing of my relationship to him. I kept it a secret to avoid any special treatment or comparison.” The Benton legacy continues in Anthony Benton Gude, the grandson of Regionalist master Thomas Hart Benton. In 1993 Gude was one of 51 artists selected in the exhibition “Under the Influence: The Students of Thomas Hart Benton” at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri. Although never officially one of Benton’s students, Gude spent his childhood summers with his grandparents, Tom and Rita Benton, at their home on Martha’s Vineyard. It was during the hours spent in Benton’s studio that Gude absorbed much of his grandfather’s influence, discovering that a talent for painting flowed in his blood as well. Educated at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Art Students League in New York City, Gude later used his grandparent’s farm home for inspiration. “I fell in love with the way the sunlight embraced the landscape, the contrasting seasonal colors and the simplicity of rural themes,” Gude said. Gude further followed his grandfather’s inspiration into mural painting. He designed a method of creating murals that could be taken apart and reassembled once the mural’s space was completed. Using an intricate wooden frame designed to be both lightweight and extremely durable; a single piece of canvas is stretched over to create a giant easel canvas. Once the mural is finished, the canvas can be removed and rolled up. The mural is then capable of transport and installation anywhere in the world. Gude continues to maintain ties to the legacy of Thomas Hart Benton, his own work a tribute to the relationship of grandfather and grandson. SELECT MURAL COMMISSIONS D.S.T. Systems, Kansas City, Missouri St. Josephs Frontier Casino Westar Energy, Topeka, Kansas Marriott Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City Southern Railways, Kansas City, Missouri Financial Solutions, Kansas City Missouri Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas General Electric Financial Solutions, Kansas City, Missouri

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