Thomas Hart Benton World War I Service Record, 1918

Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter who painted scenes of everyday life in the U.S.  Benton is also known for having been the mentor of another famous painter, Jackson Pollock.

During World War I, Benton was stationed with the U.S. Navy at Norfolk, Virginia where he initially was required to make documentary drawings of shipyard work and life.  Later, Benton was asked to make drawings of camouflaged ships that came into the harbor so that the Navy would have records of the camouflage schemes of various ships.  Benton always felt that the work he did for the Navy during WWI was very important to the evolution of his painting in general.