Missouri native Thomas Hart Benton painted America Today, a 10-panel mural on canvas, to adorn a boardroom at the New School for Social Research, in NYCs Greenwich Village, New York. Eight of the America Today ten panels depict life in different regions of the United States based on studies he made from observation on various trips throughout the South, the Midwest, the West, and New York. Although the artist received no fee for his work on this commission, he was "paid" with hen’s eggs, the yolks from which he created the egg tempera paint used for the mural. At the time, Benton taught at The Art Students League. One of his most promising students was Jackson Pollick, who posed for several of the figuras in the mural, including the man in the center pabel below.

Eventually Benton’s mural proved too difficult for the school to maintain in perpetuity. In 1982, the school announced the sale of the mural, with the condition that it would not be resold outside the United States or as individual panels. But the work was a great challenge to sell as a whole, increasing the likelihood that the panels would be dispersed. In 1984 America Today was acquired by AXA (then Equitable Life), in support of efforts on the part of then-mayor Edward I. Koch and others to keep it intact and in New York City. 

Two years later, after extensive cleaning and restoration, America Today was unveiled to critical acclaim in AXA's new headquarters at 787 Seventh Avenue. When the company moved its corporate headquarters again in 1996, to 1290 Avenue of the Americas, America Today was put on display in the lobby. There it remained until January 2012, when the company was asked to remove it to make way for a renovation. In December 2012, AXA donated the mural to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Due to ongoing renovations of the south wing of the museum, the mural is currently in storage. Photos from the Met Museum archives. WATCH this incredible video in which Met curators talk about Benton, the mural, and the installation at the museum. Happy Labor Day!