ARTIST PROFILE
Anthony Benton Gude
The Island-Born Grandson of Iconic Artist Thomas Hart Benton
Profile by Kara Goldfarb
It’s something I can’t ignore, an inner drive inspired by the world around me.” That’s what Anthony Benton Gude has to say about an artist’s calling to his or her work. And in fact, he’s reluctant to even call it work. “You hope you can make a living at it, as I have done, but its more of a passion of the soul,” he says.
For Anthony that passion began a long time ago. Born on Martha’s Vineyard, Anthony grew up on the Island, started painting on the Island, and took his first art classes on the Island. “I grew up basically on and under the docks in Menemsha, scrounging for lost hooks,” he recalls. He’d pair those hooks with disregarded fishing lines and spend his time catching mackerel or snapper along the jetty. That early childhood pastime is reflected in his paintings of the Vineyard, in which he often finds himself focusing on the ocean above all else. “The island has been painted, again and again, so many times by so many really good artists,” says Anthony.
Some of those artists focus on the landscape and others hone in on particular Island scenes, for Anthony “It’s still the ocean that is, I guess, a part of me,” he states.
Though the Vineyard is undoubtedly a major source of inspiration for his work, Anthony has found himself in other locations that have played major roles in shaping his art. Kansas, for instance, is an important place for Anthony in terms of his career. “I lived in the Midwest and traded the ocean for a sea of grass and the great plains,” he says. “I fell in love with the landscape and painted it for many years and made a name for myself out there,” he continues.
The Midwest is also the place where Anthony first starting painting murals, a genre in which he now has vast expertise. Anthony’s grandfather, iconic American painter and muralist Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975), lived in the Midwest, which is how the prospect of painting murals came about. “When word got out that there was a Benton descendent out there, everybody just assumed that I would be doing murals,” Anthony explains. “I never thought I would become a muralist, but in a way, it was expected of me.”
The first mural job he got was in 1997 for a casino, where he was commissioned to paint four historical murals. This particular job was unique in that, unlike the typical mural, which is painted directly onto a large surface of a building, the casino wasn’t even built yet. “There was no location. I just had a size (20ft long x 6ft high) and a theme to work with,” Anthony says.
Due to the situation, Anthony had to create a system, unlike anything his grandfather had done, in which he could paint, roll up, store, and bring back out the murals to reassemble once the building was finished. He ultimately wound up creating a platform for the murals that was lightweight yet strong enough to support the canvas as it stretched over the structure while he painted. He was then able to roll up and disassemble the entire frame and reinstall it essentially wherever it needed to go.
“It’s a system that has served me very well,” Anthony says. “At this point I’ve painted as many murals as my grandfather painted.”
Anthony surely inherited artistic talent from his lineage, yet he also diligently studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Art Students League in New York City. mastering the Venetian Technique of oil painting. This proven system employs the use of a monochromatic under painting to develop form and composition before the color is painted on. The work ends up with many layers of paint that gives the final result a stronger body. Also certain color can only be achieved by the layering of tones. Thus the system lends itself to the exploration of representable creative work in oils.
This begs the question: how much of an artist’s talent comes naturally and how much of it can be learned? Anthony is quick to declare his enthusiasm for education. Despite the influence from his grandfather and a deep-rooted devotion to painting, he believes that there is much to be gained from schooling.
“I went to school already knowing in my heart and soul what I wanted to do I just needed to find the teachers that could help me learn the techniques and abilities I needed to gain to express what I already wanted to say,” he says.
Likening art to music, Anthony describes the importance of a learned foundation. “If you’re going to play music,” he says, “then you need to have structure. You need to know the chords. And there’s a lot of them.” To be an artist of any sort, Anthony explains how significant it is to possess a foundation technique; having an ability to express something ingenious without that basic knowledge can be limiting. “The technique gives youthe tools needed to express yourself in different ways,” he says.
Anthony has actually taught art classes in the past, and he’d like to get the chance to teach more in the future. During his own learning experience, he found that at times too much emphasis was put on self expression...rather than technical skills...owing to the fear of perhaps hindering a latent genious. As an artist he welcomes the opportunity to teach others particular methods and techniques, particularly of watercolors. “I have a mastery of watercolors and would be glad to share what I have learned,” says Anthony. He really enjoys the medium and knows that there are some basics–planning aspects needed to achieve the effects that many people want to achieve–but just seem to have difficulty with. “I would be happy to teach those basics and happy to share,” he says.
Something else Anthony hopes to do on the Island: more murals. “I was born on this Island and grew up here, more than anywhere else this has always been home to me,” he says. Being back on the Island after exploring other parts of the country, the opportunity to work in a format that he has become so passionate about on his home Island is something he would enjoy greatly. At times he describes mural painting as a “very daunting undertaking”, he also says that there’s nothing like working on that kind of scale.
Not one to turn down a challenge, Anthony is always willing to try new things with his art. Though he tends to put an emphasis on drawing the figure precisely, he took time two years ago to investigate an abstract genre of paintings which he named phosphorism, paintings inspired by the phosphoresence in the ocean’s water at night. “Its a light and dark system that really has no limits. Based in the ocean depths but reaching into the cosmos,” Anthony says.
His fascination with the natural world is one that propels his work forward. The many parts of the planet that Anthony has not yet explored are just waiting to inspire him. Constantly wondering how his art is evolving or where it’s going, he looks to those undiscovered places for new expressions of beauty. “In my art, I dont rely on what something looks like but rather try to express what it feels like,” Anthony explains. And in the end, it all comes back to that instinctive compulsion that can’t be ignored, a compulsion to continue creating. As Anthony says, “If I’m not painting, I’m probably not doing what I need to be doing.”
For Anthony that passion began a long time ago. Born on Martha’s Vineyard, Anthony grew up on the Island, started painting on the Island, and took his first art classes on the Island. “I grew up basically on and under the docks in Menemsha, scrounging for lost hooks,” he recalls. He’d pair those hooks with disregarded fishing lines and spend his time catching mackerel or snapper along the jetty. That early childhood pastime is reflected in his paintings of the Vineyard, in which he often finds himself focusing on the ocean above all else. “The island has been painted, again and again, so many times by so many really good artists,” says Anthony.
Some of those artists focus on the landscape and others hone in on particular Island scenes, for Anthony “It’s still the ocean that is, I guess, a part of me,” he states.
Though the Vineyard is undoubtedly a major source of inspiration for his work, Anthony has found himself in other locations that have played major roles in shaping his art. Kansas, for instance, is an important place for Anthony in terms of his career. “I lived in the Midwest and traded the ocean for a sea of grass and the great plains,” he says. “I fell in love with the landscape and painted it for many years and made a name for myself out there,” he continues.
The Midwest is also the place where Anthony first starting painting murals, a genre in which he now has vast expertise. Anthony’s grandfather, iconic American painter and muralist Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975), lived in the Midwest, which is how the prospect of painting murals came about. “When word got out that there was a Benton descendent out there, everybody just assumed that I would be doing murals,” Anthony explains. “I never thought I would become a muralist, but in a way, it was expected of me.”
The first mural job he got was in 1997 for a casino, where he was commissioned to paint four historical murals. This particular job was unique in that, unlike the typical mural, which is painted directly onto a large surface of a building, the casino wasn’t even built yet. “There was no location. I just had a size (20ft long x 6ft high) and a theme to work with,” Anthony says.
Due to the situation, Anthony had to create a system, unlike anything his grandfather had done, in which he could paint, roll up, store, and bring back out the murals to reassemble once the building was finished. He ultimately wound up creating a platform for the murals that was lightweight yet strong enough to support the canvas as it stretched over the structure while he painted. He was then able to roll up and disassemble the entire frame and reinstall it essentially wherever it needed to go.
“It’s a system that has served me very well,” Anthony says. “At this point I’ve painted as many murals as my grandfather painted.”
Anthony surely inherited artistic talent from his lineage, yet he also diligently studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Art Students League in New York City. mastering the Venetian Technique of oil painting. This proven system employs the use of a monochromatic under painting to develop form and composition before the color is painted on. The work ends up with many layers of paint that gives the final result a stronger body. Also certain color can only be achieved by the layering of tones. Thus the system lends itself to the exploration of representable creative work in oils.
This begs the question: how much of an artist’s talent comes naturally and how much of it can be learned? Anthony is quick to declare his enthusiasm for education. Despite the influence from his grandfather and a deep-rooted devotion to painting, he believes that there is much to be gained from schooling.
“I went to school already knowing in my heart and soul what I wanted to do I just needed to find the teachers that could help me learn the techniques and abilities I needed to gain to express what I already wanted to say,” he says.
Likening art to music, Anthony describes the importance of a learned foundation. “If you’re going to play music,” he says, “then you need to have structure. You need to know the chords. And there’s a lot of them.” To be an artist of any sort, Anthony explains how significant it is to possess a foundation technique; having an ability to express something ingenious without that basic knowledge can be limiting. “The technique gives youthe tools needed to express yourself in different ways,” he says.
Anthony has actually taught art classes in the past, and he’d like to get the chance to teach more in the future. During his own learning experience, he found that at times too much emphasis was put on self expression...rather than technical skills...owing to the fear of perhaps hindering a latent genious. As an artist he welcomes the opportunity to teach others particular methods and techniques, particularly of watercolors. “I have a mastery of watercolors and would be glad to share what I have learned,” says Anthony. He really enjoys the medium and knows that there are some basics–planning aspects needed to achieve the effects that many people want to achieve–but just seem to have difficulty with. “I would be happy to teach those basics and happy to share,” he says.
Something else Anthony hopes to do on the Island: more murals. “I was born on this Island and grew up here, more than anywhere else this has always been home to me,” he says. Being back on the Island after exploring other parts of the country, the opportunity to work in a format that he has become so passionate about on his home Island is something he would enjoy greatly. At times he describes mural painting as a “very daunting undertaking”, he also says that there’s nothing like working on that kind of scale.
Not one to turn down a challenge, Anthony is always willing to try new things with his art. Though he tends to put an emphasis on drawing the figure precisely, he took time two years ago to investigate an abstract genre of paintings which he named phosphorism, paintings inspired by the phosphoresence in the ocean’s water at night. “Its a light and dark system that really has no limits. Based in the ocean depths but reaching into the cosmos,” Anthony says.
His fascination with the natural world is one that propels his work forward. The many parts of the planet that Anthony has not yet explored are just waiting to inspire him. Constantly wondering how his art is evolving or where it’s going, he looks to those undiscovered places for new expressions of beauty. “In my art, I dont rely on what something looks like but rather try to express what it feels like,” Anthony explains. And in the end, it all comes back to that instinctive compulsion that can’t be ignored, a compulsion to continue creating. As Anthony says, “If I’m not painting, I’m probably not doing what I need to be doing.”