Circle Auction’s recent Lithographs of Thomas Hart Benton: The Clarence R. Decker Collection auction concluded with $335,163 in total sales, including buyer’s premium. The auction attracted registered bidders from 34 states and 49 countries, reflecting broad interest in Benton’s lithographs and in a collection with direct ties to the artist and Kansas City history.

The auction presented lithographs assembled by the late Dr. Clarence R. Decker, president of the University of Kansas City, now the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), from 1938 to 1953. Decker was closely connected to Benton through his work at the university and became a friend and regular patron of the artist.

During Decker’s tenure as president, he helped the University of Kansas City secure accreditation and guided the institution through an important period of development. He also established a visiting artists series that included Thomas Hart Benton, who had made Kansas City his home and was an influential figure in American art.

Decker’s relationship with Benton extended beyond the university. The two developed a friendship, and Decker became a collector and patron of Benton’s work. Creekmore Fath’s catalogue raisonné of Benton prints records that Decker commissioned Benton’s 1949 lithograph Prayer Meeting.

That history provided important provenance and context for the group of Benton lithographs offered at auction.

Several of Benton’s best-known narrative subjects were among the leading results of the sale and set multiple new records for his lithographic works. Highlight results included:

Thomas Hart Benton, Wreck of the Ol’ 97, Lithograph (1944) — $15,500

Thomas Hart Benton, Jessie and Jake, Lithograph (1942) — $14,000

Thomas Hart Benton, The Race, Lithograph (1942) — $14,000

Thomas Hart Benton, The Music Lesson, Lithograph (1943) — $12,000

Thomas Hart Benton, After the Blow, Lithograph (1946) — $11,000

The results demonstrate continued collector interest in Benton’s lithographs, particularly works from the 1940s depicting American life, music, labor and narrative subjects.