" A Dream Fulfilled ", in INDIANA A Story in Form and Word.: A Hoosier History by David Laurance Chambers based on the Mural Paintings of Thomas Hart Benton

[ Indianapolis, IN ]: [ Bobbs-Merrill ], 1933. First Edition. stapled wrappers. Very Good. Thomas Hart Benton. Quarto, 48 pages, pictorial wrappers,

The largest mural project to that date was undertaken for the State of Indiana's pavilion at the Century of Progress World's Fair at Chicago in 1933. Thomas Hibben, a contributor here was, "the first architect of my acquaintance who realized that painting had a function beyond that of draping walls. ... This mural painting of Indiana sees the realization of a project that I have had in mind for fifteen years ... a history of the United States which would unroll progressively the social and environmental changes of the country from the savage Indiana to the present days of our machine culture. I visualized this history as realistic and factual. Realistic as to form, factual as to content. ... Colonel Lieber's quick understanding of my desire to represent a social progression made it possible for me to transfer my original historical plan from the United States as a whole to the State of Indiana, the context of whose history is symbolical of the entire country." - T. H. Benton. After the World's Fair, 22 of the panels of this 250 ft.-long mural are preserved at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. This was his "breakthrough" work.