A man raises his hand to his chin, his neck tilted and face turned to look at a dilapidated farmhouse, barely held together by planks of wood and exposed to the elements. Behind him lies a suitcase, and in the background, a parked automobile – which sits somewhat precariously. It is evident from his expression that he has just arrived, or returned, to this bleak landscape.

An ominous crosshatched sky of thin clouds hangs above rough grassy terrain, while mounds of shrubbery frame the bottom half of the image. In the right-hand corner, a cow skeleton sits, with it's eyes staring back at the viewer. The lithograph is rich in contrast, evoking a moody and foreboding feeling, a sense that the man has not yet adjusted to the landscape.

The title "Prodigal Son" recalls the biblical parable of a man who recklessly squanders his inheritance and is forced to work as a hired hand for a pig farmer to survive. Realizing the error of his ways, he returns home to his father, begging for forgiveness. The father, despite the son's hedonistic past, welcomes him with open arms and throws a feast. Like the prodigal son, Benton returned from New York to his native Missouri in 1935. This work, completed a few years later, surely expresses Benton’s anxieties about returning home to the Midwest.

Similarly to the “prodigal son”, Benton came from a wealthy background but rejected his father's wishes and followed his impulses. He pursued a career in art and indulged in his vices; drinking heavily and keeping a mistress during his early adulthood. His return to the Midwest allowed him to settle down in Missouri, to reflect on the significance of rural life and focus on his lithographs, paintings, and murals.

A fine impression with full margins published by Associated American Artists with their information label present - pictured in Art and Popular Religion in Evangelical America, 1815-1940.