1. Art Criticism
By: Noe Ibarra

2. Description
In the painting “The wreck Of The ole 97” by Thomas H. Benton. The painting is made with egg tempera on panel, it was made in 1943.I see a train tipping over near the people on the carriage. It seems that the train is the center piece of the painting because how everything is placed within the painting. I see that he uses a lot of cool colors in this piece. The painting also has a woman falling off of the carriage and the horse is coming to a complete stop.

3. Analysis
Thomas used a lot of variety of design in “The Wreck of The Ole 97”. In my opinion the train is the most important part of this painting. Thomas used repetition to show pattern the train tracks. He used proportion with the train it isn't too big but it isn't too small. He didn’t use too much colors so he used balance to equally distribute the colors in the painting. I think that Thomas emphasized the horse ,because the horse is white and he put it near black smoke.

4. Interpretation
The train tipping over in “The Wreck of The Ole 97” makes me feel like I'm living in the wreck. I know that this painting is about the wreckage of a real train crash in history. To me, I can feel the intensity of the frenzy that is about to happen. I think that Benton was trying to focus more on the excitement of the situation than the devastating results of an actual train crash. This painting makes me feel pensive, it makes me think of all of the past train crashes in the past.

5. Judgment
I feel like Thomas H. Benton could of done better on the tones of the painting. He could of added a little more color on the hills and also the train should be casting a shadow on the foreground and he should of fixed that. Thomas was successful in making the clouds and where the shadows should be and where the highlights should be. This painting is very unique, this painting is based on the train wreck of ole ‘97’. I looked up a picture of the actual wreck and this is what I found:

7. Judgment
To me, the photograph is very dramatic whereas the painting is focusing mostly about the tension, the excitement. Also the photograph is in black and white ,while the painting is in color. Benton did a good job on the excitement of the painting but if I made that painting I would of added a little less ecxitement.