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Jessie and Jake
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton
(United States, 1889 - 1975)
Date1942
MediumOil and tempera on canvas
DimensionsSUPPORT: 43 x 35 x 3 in. (109.2 x 88.9 x 7.6 cm)
Object TypePaintings
Credit LineKSU, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Jessie Benton
Object number1999.16
On View
Not on view• The artist said about this painting: “Our shepherd dog Jake impersonated the wolf in this Red Riding Hood theme. The area depicted is in our wood lot on Martha’s Vineyard and shows a path leading to my mother’s place there.”
• Benton’s daughter, Jessie, was the model for his “Little Red Riding Hood” figure and was three years old at the time. The three trees in the painting are clues to her age.
• When dog Jake died in 1945, Benton wrote a biographical obituary, which appeared in the Vineyard Gazette. The artist recalled: “He was named Jake because he was a country dog, a country jake, who hadn’t learned city ways.”
• Benton’s daughter, Jessie, was the model for his “Little Red Riding Hood” figure and was three years old at the time. The three trees in the painting are clues to her age.
• When dog Jake died in 1945, Benton wrote a biographical obituary, which appeared in the Vineyard Gazette. The artist recalled: “He was named Jake because he was a country dog, a country jake, who hadn’t learned city ways.”
Bibliography
Thomas Hart Benton
1923
2007.146a
