Indian and Explorer

Thomas Hart Benton, artist

1889–1975

Elden C. Tefft, caster

1919–2015

Indian and Explorer, 1960

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: bronze

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 47.7 x 38.1 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 18 3/4 x 15 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Elizabeth M. Watkins Fund

Accession number: 1960.0036

Not on display

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Label texts

Benton sculpted clay models in preparation for many of his paintings, including his murals for the New York Power Authority at Niagara Falls. KU Chancellor Franklin Murphy (1916-1994) encouraged Benton to cast his clay figures of the Indian and Explorer from his St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project murals in bronze. The bronze suggests the 1534 meeting between French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) and a representative of the Iroquois people who inhabited the Saint Lawrence River region Cartier “discovered” and claimed for France.

Exhibition Label:
"This Land," Mar-2014, Kate Meyer
Benton sculpted clay models in preparation for many of his paintings, including his murals for the New York Power Authority at Niagara Falls. KU Chancellor Franklin Murphy (1916-1994) encouraged Benton to cast his clay figures of the Indian and Explorer from his St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project murals in bronze. The bronze suggests the 1534 meeting between French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) and a representative of the Iroquois people who inhabited the Saint Lawrence River region Cartier “discovered” and claimed for France.