Thomas Benton, Senator from Missouri

Art Historical Context

This lithograph portrait, created around 1840 by Charles Fenderich, captures Thomas Hart Benton during his long tenure as a U.S. Senator from Missouri., a key figure in antebellum politics, championed westward expansion and economic policies that shaped the young nation. The image, printed on ivory wove paper, presents him with the dignified bearing expected of a statesman, reflecting the era’s interest in visual representations of national leaders. Lithography was a relatively new and accessible medium at the time, allowing artists like Fenderich to produce multiple impressions that could reach a broader public than traditional paintings or engravings. This print’s format—mounted on a larger sheet—suggests it may have been intended for display in homes or offices, helping to disseminate Benton’s likeness across the growing United States. Housed today in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Prints and Drawings, the work offers a window into both political portraiture and the technical innovations of early American printmaking. Its modest yet refined execution highlights how such images helped foster a shared sense of national identity in the decades before the Civil War.