School's Thomas Hart Benton Painting Heads to Museum
- April 05, 2015 20:33
A painting by Thomas Hart Benton that was hidden in storage by a suburban Kansas City school will go on public view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
"Utah Highlands" will be on long-term loan at the museum in Kansas City, starting in late April.
"It is fitting that this painting has found a home in the Nelson-Atkins since the museum has such a strong history with Benton," museum director and CEO Julián Zugazagoitia said in a statement. "We are delighted the students who purchased the painting will be able to come and see it."
Students of the class of 1957 from Shawnee Mission High School bought the Benton for $750. The painting hung in what is now Shawnee Mission North High School until school officials were stunned when it was appraised in 2008 at $700,000.
For seven years, the Benton landscape was kept in storage for safekeeping.
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
