Tempera Painting: Benton’s Cave Spring (1963) and Wyeth’s Christina's World (1948)
Tempera, or egg tempera, is a painting method which comes from the Latin word temperare, which means "to mix in proportion" (“Tempera Painting Method”). If encaustic paints use beeswax to bind color pigments, while oil paints rely on oils, tempera utilizes an emulsion of water and egg yolks (or whole eggs) (“Tempera”). This paper describes a brief history of the tempera painting method and two tempera paintings by two different artists. The earlier artist is Thomas Hart Benton, born in 1889, although his work used in this paper is much later completed than the other artist. Benton made Cave Spring in 1963, a tempera on panel artwork (Appendix A). The next artist is Andrew Wyeth, born in 1917. His work, Christina's World, is completed in 1948 and also a work of tempera on panel (Appendix B). These artworks will be described, compared, and contrasted using several elements and principles of art. They share the same Regionalist rural themes and portray horizontal movement but differ in the use of lines, shapes, color, and balance.
Tempera, usually applied to a prepared surface, may have originated in Antiquity. Wood panel tempera paintings involve preparing panels by putting on gesso layers (combination of chalk and size) to produce a smooth surface (“Tempera”). After this, tempera is applied to a drawing and slowly built up through thin, transparent layers (“Tempera”). A disadvantage of tempera is that, unlike oils, tempera cannot be thickly applied, resulting in a lack of deeply saturated colors (“Tempera”). Nevertheless, tempera paintings can last long and the colors do not deteriorate easily unlike oil paintings which usually darken or lose color across time (“Tempera”). Furthermore, when tempera dries, it creates a beautiful smooth matte finish (“Tempera”). As for its history, despite possibly being used in earlier times, Classical Greek paintings made in tempera have not survived due to its perishability (“Tempera”). Tempera artworks have been recorded though in Egyptian art as seen in the Fayum Mummy Portraits (c. 50 BCE to 250 CE). In Roman art, tempera was also a prominent medium, as seen in Severan Tondo (200 CE), which is a portrait of the Roman emperor Septimus Severus and his family (“Tempera”). Tempera art is also found in medieval European paintings (1200 to 1500) (“Tempera”). At the beginning of the High Renaissance in the sixteenth century, Flemish painters and Italian artists used tempera (“Tempera”). Notable among them is Leonardo da Vinci who used the traditional egg tempera (“Tempera”). However, when oils replaced tempera, the latter lost prominence for almost four centuries before being revived by early nineteenth century artists, such as William Blake (“Tempera”). In the twentieth century, Thomas Benton and Andrew Wyeth, both American Scene painters, continued the use of tempera in their landscape artworks (“Tempera”).
Thomas Benton is an American muralist and painter who led the American Regionalism movement, alongside Grant Wood, and used tempera on panel on several of his paintings, including Cave Spring (1963). In the 1920s, Benton openly rejected modernism and focused on a naturalistic style called Regionalism ("Thomas Hart Benton"). Regionalist art celebrates American art by depicting American themes and images ("Benton"; "Cave Spring"). Regionalism became part of American Scene Painting which became popular due to its positive portrayal of American themes ("Benton"). One of the American Scene paintings by Benton is Cave Spring (1963). This work may illustrate either rural Missouri or Arkansas (Adams and Benton 20). The man napping looks like a farmer or a worker, although it is believed to be Benton's lawyer and friend, Lyman Field (Adams and Benton 20). The setting is a stream by a cave and nearby is a field where a man naps peacefully. The lush trees reflect on the stream, while the land opposite it showcases thick bushes, grass, and trees. On top of the painting are rolling clouds, as swirling as the nature below it. By putting a worker as a subject and adding billowing clouds and lush trees, Cave Spring depicts American reality, specifically the relaxing scenery and simplicity of rural life.
Andrew Wyeth is another American Scene painter who created a tempera painting, Christina's World (1948). Similar to Benton, Wyeth is a Regionalist and American Scene painter because he depicts small-town life and sceneries. Like Benton, he also uses tempera on panel on many paintings. His Christina's World is a tempera work that warmly depicts rural heartlands ("Andrew Wyeth"). It illustrates his neighbor, Christina Olson, in Wyeth's hometown in Cushing, Maine. In real life, Olson contracted degenerative muscular condition and could not walk as a result. Despite her condition, neighbors would see her crawling in the field to watch her farmhouse in the distance, as in the painting (“Andrew Wyeth: Christina's World 1948”). The realist style shows Christina at the lower center of the painting. Donning a pink dress, she seems to be in a crawling position but gazes at the farmhouse. The pink dress suggests innocence which is apt for her love of the countryside. The grass is dry and seems itchy in texture but Christina does not seem to mind. At the upper part of the painting are a dusty road and two gray farmhouses. Christina’s will to enjoy the scenery despite her physical disability suggests the themes of hope and determination, two rural-life values.
Benton and Wyeth both use tempera to depict the Regionalist themes of a simple rural life; although their artworks have a horizontal movement that depicts relaxation, Benton uses curved lines and shapes, brighter colors with dark values, and approximate symmetrical balance, while Wyeth uses realistic, three-dimensional lines and lighter values with low intensity, and asymmetry. As Regionalists, their subjects are the typical rural life. Cave Spring depicts a rural scenery of a stream, a cave, a forest, and a meadow, while Christina's World shows the vast grassland of farms. Both artworks capture how simple rural life is and how this simplicity can be relaxing and heart-warming. In addition, they similarly portray a horizontal movement with Cave Spring’s horizontal clouds and rolling grasses, and Christina's World’s nearly horizontally lying Christina on the grass. The effect of the horizontal movement is a sense of peacefulness that can usually be obtained when enjoying the scenery of rural areas. Despite similarities, these tempera works are different in that Cave Spring has billowing curves and shapes. The lines of the trees and grass are organic and flowing like ocean waves. The clouds seem to mirror everything under it as they all look curve and flow horizontally, generating a peaceful environment. The shapes are also dominantly swirling as if circles are inside these elements of nature. On the contrary, Christina's World may have Christina in an almost horizontal position but the grass and the farmhouses have vertical and three-dimensional lines, indicating uprightness. The lines can symbolize the uprightness of Christina’s resolve to move despite her physical limitations, suggesting hope and perseverance in rural life. Furthermore, another difference between the two is the color. Cave Spring has brighter colors with dark values which suggest the rich beauty of nature in rural settings, while Christina's World has lighter values which can signify the dryness of the land and the importance of hope in these situations. Another difference is that Cave Spring has an approximate symmetrical balance as the waving lines and curves of the trees, cave, grass, and clouds match each other. The impact is balance and relaxation. On the opposite, Christina's World illustrates asymmetry with Christina looking small in the vast grassland, while two farmhouses are distant and have different sizes. The asymmetry can signify the smallness of Christina although it can also highlight her human resolve. Hence, Cave Spring and Christina's World both use tempera to portray the simplicity and beauty of Regionalist rural themes and horizontal movement; however, they differ in lines, color, and balance that support the notion of a beautiful rural life.