Artists' preparatory studies

Artist Gilbert Franklin speaks at a viewing of the model of the Harry S. Truman statue.

Harry Jonas, left, and Gilbert Franklin, center, pose with a model of the Harry S. Truman statue. The man on the right is unidentified.

Artist Gilbert Franklin speaks at a viewing of the model of the Harry S. Truman statue.

Gilbert Franklin, left, and Harry Jonas, right, examine a model of the Harry S. Truman statue. The man in the center is unidentified.

A sketch of a Native American by Thomas Hart Benton, on exhibit at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. Mr. Benton made the sketch as part of a study for the mural that he painted in the lobby of the Library.

Exhibit of other photos and sketches by Thomas Hart Benton. Benton used these items to help him paint his mural, "Independence and the Opening of the West," in the lobby of the Truman Library.

Exhibit of Thomas Hart Benton sketches at the Harry S. Truman Library. The sketches were used as studies for Benton's mural, "Independence and the Opening of the West" in the lobby of the Library.

Author James Michener, far left, and Thomas Hart Benton in the Garden room of the Harry S. Truman Library. To the right, the clay model used by Mr. Benton in the painting of the mural, "Independence and the Opening of the West."

One of the sketches of the mural "Independence and the Opening of the West", by Thomas Hart Benton. This mural is painted in the lobby of the Harry S. Truman Library.

John Martino (left) holds an ax so that Thomas Hart Benton (right) can sketch the hand and ax for his mural "Independence and the Opening of the West" at the Truman Library.