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Estimate: $ 20,000 - $ 30,000
THOMAS HART BENTON The Grapes of Wrath.
Departure of the Joads. Edition of 100 * Pa Joad. Edition of 25 * Sharon Joad. Edition of 25 * Tom Joad. Edition of 25. Casy or the Reverend Jim Casy. Group of 5 lithographs. Edition of 25. Each 1939. Each signed and dedicated "To John Ford" in pencil, lower margin. Various sizes and conditions.
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the director John Ford, Los Angeles, thence by descent to the current owner.
In 1939, Twentieth-Century Fox Film Corporation commissioned Benton (1889-1975) to make a series portraying the main characters of The Grapes of Wrath; the images were used to publicize the film. Directed by John Ford (1894-1973), the dedicatee of the present lithographs, the film was based on John Steinbeck's novel and is considered one of the greatest films of the era. Ford received an Academy Award for best director for his work on the film, one of six he would receive throughout his career, cementing his reputation as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. Fath 34, 36-39.
