Thomas Hart Benton described Ross Braught as “the greatest living American draftsman.” Braught was revered by his colleagues and his many students as a painter and lithographer, perhaps one of America’s best from the 1920s through ’50s. Working in New Hope, Woodstock, Kansas City, and Dutch Guiana, Braught painted vibrant landscapes of the Catskills, Dakota badlands, and jungle interiors with a flair and depth of gestural expression, and feel for subtle rhythmic patterns. His technical mastery allowed a thorough exploration of the formal and compositional possibilities of organic forms, while his sensibility for subtle color transitions infused a pervasive atmospheric quality. Braught’s symbolic art recalled George Inness, as well as contemporaries Georgia O’Keeffe and Charles Burchfield. The reticent artist once said of his work: “…the things that live are the things that have emotional quality…the feeling that survives is what is worthwhile…the aim is to evoke an emotional reaction from the viewer.”