Masks

Claude Bentley

Claude Bentley’s work was greatly inspired by his time in North Africa on his tour of duty during World War II. When he returned, his interest in the art of ancient cultures led him to study Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican, and Oceanic sculpture and masks as well. Meanwhile, the burgeoning American mid-century Modernist style, reflecting an enthusiastic global connection in the immediate postwar era, found foothold in the imaginations of artists across the nation.

Representing the exploratory time between his formal art education and his eventual pursuit of non-representational Abstraction, “Masks,” is a fine example of this period in American art history. Bentley captures the expression of the masks on the lithostone with the vital imprint of impulse.