Rainey Bennett

Rainey Bennett (June 14, 1907 – July 26, 1998) was an American artist, illustrator and muralist. His works have been displayed in major museum art collections.

Work

The art collections of

In addition to his painting, Bennett also worked as a freelance book illustrator and had a longtime working relationship with Scott Foresman publishers. Every holiday season, he illustrated the daily Christmas newspaper ads for Marshall Field's. In 1960, Bennett wrote as well as illustrated his own children's book, The Secret Hiding Place, about a baby hippopotamus in search of a secret hiding place.^[3]

Murals

Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the

The Oak Room at Robert Allerton Park contains four floral paintings by Rainey Bennett, who was a friend of the Allerton family. He painted oil painting for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Exec Offices. new Deal/WPA bios

Watercolors

In 1939, Bennett produced a series of 36 watercolors of

Bennett died on December 11, 1998, in his Lincoln Park home at the age of 91. His wife, Ann, was a professional dancer and had died in 1975. He was survived by his companion, two daughters, and a son.^[3]

Exhibits

• Downtown Gallery, New York
• Art Institute of Chicago; Art in Illinois, In Honor of the Illinois Sesquicentennial, June/September, 1968, Quiet Blue
• University of Illinois, Exhibit of Contemporary American Painting, Feb-April, 1949; [1], Pamela and Renee
• Cleveland Museum;
• Toledo Museum;
• Whitney Museum;
• Fairweather Hardin Gallery, Chicago.

See also

• Gray, Mary Lackritz. A Guide to Chicago's Murals. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
• Sokol, David. Rainey Bennett. Exh. cat. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, 1979.

References