DOCSLIB.ORG

WEST, BENJAMIN Date

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
WEST, BENJAMIN Date Docent Handbook - Artist Fact Sheet Artist Name: WEST, BENJAMIN Date: 1738-1820 Nationality: American Title/Date: Husbandry Aided by the Arts and Commerce, 1789 Size: 24 ¾ x 29 ¾ inches Medium: Oil on paper mounted on board Gallery Location: 4th Floor, Gallery 1 Salient Characteristics of this Work: - Oil on paper mounted on board - Reflects Neo-Classical style - Design for decorative ceiling panel in Queen Charlotte’s lodge at Windsor Castle - Allegory of Agriculture for patron George III, called Farmer George Salient Characteristics of the Artist/Anecdotal Information: - Born in 1738 in Springfield (now Swarthmore), Pennsylvania - Youngest of ten children of John West, an innkeeper from England, and Sarah Pearson from Pennsylvania - First American to rise to international prominence - A reflection of his time, called an encyclopedia of 18th century conventions - Real and metaphorical qualities of his works - Popularity as portrait and historical painter - Patronage of King George III - Influential mentor to American painters in London including Sully, Stuart, and Pratt Information Narrative: - Began his career copying woodcuts and engravings - Painted landscapes at the age of 11; began painting portraits soon thereafter - Portrait painting earned him a good reputation and money - 1760, sailed for Italy at the age of 22 and became the first American to take the “grand Tour” - 1760-1763, while in Rome, West was highly regarded, moved in the highest intellectual circles, and was patronized by Anton Raphael Mengs, the most influential Neo-classical artist at that time in Rome - 1763, moved to London where he married Elizabeth Sewell of Philadelphia - Granted studios in Windsor Castle and the royal residence in London by King George III because of his historical paintings - Educated three generations of young artists, including Matthew Pratt, Thomas Sully, Gilbert Stuart, Peale, and Trumbull - 1768, helped found the Royal Academy with King George, later becoming president and replacing Sir Joshua Reynolds, the academy’s first director - 1772, appointed Historical Painter to the king - 1791, became Surveyor of the King’s Pictures - mid-1790’s, lost favor with King George who disclosed that West was “unfit” to be president, but West managed to retain the presidency of the Academy until his death - 1820, died in London BIBLIOGRAPHY Encyclopedia Britannica Editor Corp. The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1973. Galt, John. The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West. London, 1820. Hafstadter, Dan. “In one great swoop, country bumpkin to Royal Academy,” The Smithsonian, June, 1989. Brenson, Michael. “A Cornball Yankee in King George’s Court,” The New York Times, July, 1989. Phaidon Press Limited. Phaidon Encyclopedia of Art and Artist. E.P. Dutton, New York, 1978. (Lynne Westra – Docent) .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Benjamin West and His Visit to Lancaster
    BENJAMIN WEST AND HIS VISIT TO LANCASTER. By Hon. Charles I. Landis. How history is falsified by careless writers is proverbial. An illustration of this well-known fact will be seen in the recent History of Lancaster County, wherein it is stated that the first Court House built in Lancaster in Centre Square was of logs. See History of Lancaster County published in 1924 by Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Vol. 1, page 328. Of course, every one who has given the matter any attention knows that it was of brick, and if that chronicler would have read Witham Marshe's Journal—the Secretary of the Maryland Commissioners at the Indian Treaty with the Iroquois in 1744—, he would have found the Court House there described in every particular. Mr. Marshe says: "It is a pretty large brick building, two stories high." (See Egles Notes & Queries, Vol. 1, Third Series, p. 277.) Some years ago a writer in one of our newspapers said that it was of logs, and although the statement was fully refuted by Mr. F. R. Diffenderffer at the time, the historical lie still lived. I hope, however, that in the future we may have no more misrepresentation on this subject. And so I think it has been concerning Benjamin West and his early work. Many stories have been told about him, some of which are merely tradition and are not sustained by any proof; and some do not seem to have any foundation. I have thought it might be interesting to briefly present a few of them, together with certain facts as I have gathered them.
    [Show full text]
  • John Singleton Copley: Correspondence, 1766-1767
    1 JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY: CORRESPONDENCE, 1766-1767 The letters below reflect a critical phase in the career of John Singleton Copley 1738-1815), the most gifted of our native-born Colonial portraitists. In them one finds the beginning of his resolve to leave Boston for study abroad and some of the doubts that beset him before he finally sailed, never to return, in 1774. The pictures he sent to London via Captain R. G. Bruce were the famous Boy with a Squirrel, shown in 1766 at an exhibition of the Society of Artists, and a Little Girl, subsequently lost, which followed in 1767. The paintings were generally well received in London, but the criticism that they were too "liney," opaque, and lacking in "Due Subordination of the Parts," only strengthened Copley's discontent with the provincial city of his birth. Captain R. G. Bruce to Copley DEAR COPLEY, LONDON, 4TH AUGUST, 1766 Don't imagine I have forgot or neglected your Interest by my long Silence. I have delayed writing to You ever since the Exhibition, in order to forward the inclosed Letter from Mr. West, which he has from time to time promised me, but which his extreme Application to his Art has hitherto prevented his finishing. What he says will be much more conclusive to You than anything from me. I have only to add the general Opinions which were pronounced on your Picture when it was exhibited. It was universally allowed to be the best Picture of its kind that appeared on that occasion, but the sentiments of Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • DID JOSHUA REYNOLDS PAINT HIS PICTURES? Matthew C
    DID JOSHUA REYNOLDS PAINT HIS PICTURES? Matthew C. Hunter Did Joshua Reynolds Paint His Pictures? The Transatlantic Work of Picturing in an Age of Chymical Reproduction In the spring of 1787, King George III visited the Royal Academy of Arts at Somerset House on the Strand in London’s West End. The king had come to see the first series of the Seven Sacraments painted by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) for Roman patron Cassiano dal Pozzo in the later 1630s. It was Poussin’s Extreme Unction (ca. 1638–1640) (fig. 1) that won the king’s particular praise.1 Below a coffered ceiling, Poussin depicts two trains of mourners converging in a darkened interior as a priest administers last rites to the dying man recumbent on a low bed. Light enters from the left in the elongated taper borne by a barefoot acolyte in a flowing, scarlet robe. It filters in peristaltic motion along the back wall where a projecting, circular molding describes somber totality. Ritual fluids proceed from the right, passing in relay from the cerulean pitcher on the illuminated tripod table to a green-garbed youth then to the gold flagon for which the central bearded elder reaches, to be rubbed as oily film on the invalid’s eyelids. Secured for twenty-first century eyes through a spectacular fund-raising campaign in 2013 by Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, Poussin’s picture had been put before the king in the 1780s by no less spirited means. Working for Charles Manners, fourth Duke of Rutland, a Scottish antiquarian named James Byres had Poussin’s Joshua Reynolds, Sacraments exported from Rome and shipped to London where they Diana (Sackville), Viscountess Crosbie were cleaned and exhibited under the auspices of Royal Academy (detail, see fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Titian Ramsay Peale Collection
    Titian Ramsay Peale Collection Archives of American Art 750 9th Street, NW Victor Building, Suite 2200 Washington, D.C. 20001 https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions https://www.aaa.si.edu/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 2 Titian Ramsay Peale Collection AAA.pealtiti Collection Overview Repository: Archives of American Art Title: Titian Ramsay Peale Collection Identifier: AAA.pealtiti Date: 1771-1876 Extent: 1 Microfilm reel (1 partial microfilm reel) Creator: Peale, Titian Ramsay, 1799-1885 Language: English . Administrative Information Acquisition Information Microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955. Location of Originals Originals in Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Titian Ramsay Peale collection. Related Materials The Archives of American Art holds the Rembrandt and Harriet Peale collection, circa 1820-1932 and the Rubens Peale diaries, 1855-1865. Also found at the Archives
    [Show full text]
  • Titian's Later Mythologies Author(S): W
    Titian's Later Mythologies Author(s): W. R. Rearick Source: Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 17, No. 33 (1996), pp. 23-67 Published by: IRSA s.c. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1483551 . Accessed: 18/09/2011 17:13 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. IRSA s.c. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus et Historiae. http://www.jstor.org W.R. REARICK Titian'sLater Mythologies I Worship of Venus (Madrid,Museo del Prado) in 1518-1519 when the great Assunta (Venice, Frari)was complete and in place. This Seen together, Titian's two major cycles of paintingsof mytho- was followed directlyby the Andrians (Madrid,Museo del Prado), logical subjects stand apart as one of the most significantand sem- and, after an interval, by the Bacchus and Ariadne (London, inal creations of the ItalianRenaissance. And yet, neither his earli- National Gallery) of 1522-1523.4 The sumptuous sensuality and er cycle nor the later series is without lingering problems that dynamic pictorial energy of these pictures dominated Bellini's continue to cloud their image as projected
    [Show full text]
  • About the Artist Benjamin West
    About the Artist Benjamin West (1738-1820) Benjamin West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, studied in Philadelphia and in New York until after a visit to Italy in 1760 he settled in England in 1763. He is particularly noted as a painter of religious and historical subjects. George III became a Patron and in 1792 he became a founder member of the Royal Academy. In the same year he succeeded Joshua Reynolds as its President. Benjamin West was born in Springfield Pennsylvania in 1738. He came from a large family, being the tenth child. His father was an innkeeper and ran different inns during Benjamin’s early life. Being one of such a large family he had to look after himself a lot of the time, had little formal education and as far as his art was concerned he told his biographer, John Galt, that he was taught how to make paint by the native Indians. During his teenage years he began to paint, mainly portraits. The provost of the College of Philadelphia, Doctor William Smith saw one of his works and was so impressed, he offered the twenty year old West an education which up to then had been sadly lacking but maybe more importantly he offered West the chance to meet members of the affluent society of Pennsylvania and in some cases, ones with political connections. In 1760 these newly-found connections were to prove fortuitous as with the help of financial support from William Allen, a very wealthy merchant and mayor of Philadelphia, he travelled to Italy where he spent time copying the works of the Italian Masters such as Titian and Raphael.
    [Show full text]
  • Benjamin West: General Wolfe and the Art of Empire Contents
    Carole McNamara with an essay by Clayton A. Lewis Benjamin West: General Wolfe and the Art of Empire Contents This publication is presented in conjunction with the exhibition 5 Director’s Foreword %HQMDPLQ:HVW*HQHUDO:ROIHDQGWKH$UWRI(PSLUH at the Joseph Rosa University of Michigan Museum of Art, September 22, 2012– January 13, 2013, in the A. Alfred Taubman Gallery I. 6 Acknowledgments This exhibition is generously supported by the Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation, the University of Michigan Health System, the Carole McNamara University of Michigan Office of the Provost and Office of the Vice President for Research, the Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment 8 Benjamin West Fund, and THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION (of R. & P. Heydon). and the Art of Empire Carole McNamara 26 William L. Clements Copyright © 2012 The Regents of the University of Michigan and 6JG&GCVJQH)GPGTCN9QNHG All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, Clayton A. Lewis stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, 34 Plates recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. 56 Checklist of Works in the Exhibition ISBN: 978-1-930561-16-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2012941765 58 Selected Bibliography Published by the University of Michigan Museum of Art 525 South State Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1354 www.umma.umich.edu Regents of the University of Michigan Julia Donovan Darlow, Ann Arbor Laurence B. Deitch, Bloomfield Hills Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms Olivia P. Maynard, Goodrich Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor Andrew C.
    [Show full text]
  • Benjamin West (1738-1820) Was an Anglo-American Painter of Historical
    Benjamin West (1738-1820) was an Anglo-American painter of historical, religious, and mythological subjects who had a profound influence on the development of historical painting in Britain. He was working around and after the time of the American War of Independence and was the second president of the Royal Academy in London, serving from 1792 to 1805 and 1806 to 1820. Despite living in England, West also had a profound influence on American painting. West was born in Pennsylvania and remained there painting portraits until the age of twenty-one. After a successful painting of the Death of Socrates, West was approached by the provost of the College of Philadelphia and offered education and connections with the wealthy and political elite. In 1760 West travelled to Italy where he copied works of Italian painters such as Raphael and Titian and was influenced by the neoclassical style of British artists Anton Rafael Mengs and Gavin Hamilton. In 1963 West arrived in England, intending to stop over on his return to America but he moved to London and remained there until his death in 1820, living for a while in the Parish of St. Marylebone. In London, West was introduced to many prominent artists and philosophers and continued to embrace classical subjects in his paintings, becoming known as the ‘American Raphael’. In 1772, King George appointed him historical painter to the court and completed many commissions in this role. The position offer was partly owed to his painting “The Death of General Wolfe, from the year before, which is one of his best-known and most controversial works.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gilbert Stuart 815 Gilbert Stuart Road Saunderstown, RI 02874 Phone 401-294-3001 Fax 401-294-3869 Birthplace and Museum Fall 2009
    The Gilbert Stuart 815 Gilbert Stuart Road Saunderstown, RI 02874 Phone 401-294-3001 Fax 401-294-3869 Birthplace and Museum www.gilbertstuartmuseum.org Fall 2009 PRESERVATION OF THE sign at the cemetery telling the history of the Hammond HAMMOND FAMILY CEMETERY family for visitors to read as they hike the Museum's trails. Clark Bridgman "Graveyards of North Kingstown", published in 1992 by Althea McAleer and others, contains a listing of the names and locations of over 170 historic cemeteries in North Kingstown. The Benjamin Hammond cemetery, listed in Althea's book, includes the family names and the age and date that each died. The cemetery’s location is described as being “behind the Snuff Mill" but "not yet located". Were it not for the childhood memories of Carl Barksdale, the site of the Benjamin Hammond family cemetery would probably still be unknown. Harriet Powell remembered her son, Carl, talking about playing near an old graveyard in the woods behind the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace some 50 years ago. Home on leave from the U.S. Navy in the summer of 2008, Carl was able to find the Hammond burial ground, despite the fact that a tree had toppled each of the three gravestones and littered the area Restored Hammond Family Graveyard with branches and leaves. The discovery prompted Peggy O'Connor to call for volunteers to clean up the site. That's when Bart McNeil, Dave O'Connor, Clark Bridgman and others went to work. The first step was to clear all the debris from the area taking care not to damage the fallen gravestones or any that were not visible.
    [Show full text]
  • WEST FAMILY GROUP from the Painting by Benjamin West Recently Purchased for the Nashville Art Association by Its President, Mrs. James C
    WEST FAMILY GROUP From the painting by Benjamin West recently purchased for the Nashville Art Association by its President, Mrs. James C. Bradford THE PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE oy HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. VOL. XLV. 1921. No. 4. THE LIFE AND WOKKS OF BENJAMIN WEST.* BY HON. HAMPTON L. CARSON. Members and Guests of the Art Alliance, Fellow Members of the Historical Society: I bid you welcome to these halls. As you all know, the Art Alliance is at the present time holding a most interesting exhibition of pictures by Benjamin West, which have been loaned for the purpose of stimulating renewed interest in West and his work. The committee in charge of that particular exhibition called on me about a fortnight ago and asked that the Historical Society should loan its own portraits and drawings and books, but I was obliged to say that the Council, acting under what I think is a very proper pre- caution, had to decline the request. You can readily understand that we cannot permit our own pictures to be taken from the walls, because if we did it in one instance we would be obliged to do it for almost every celebration or exhibition that is held, and from an en- tirely fireproof building some of the precious treasures * An address delivered before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, S. W. Corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., on the evening of Monday, December 12, 1921. VOL. XLV.—21 301 302 The Life and Works of Benjamin West. in our possession would be removed and exposed to a risk which insurance cannot compensate.
    [Show full text]
  • The Death of General Wolfe 1 the Death of General Wolfe
    The Death of General Wolfe 1 The Death of General Wolfe The Death of General Wolfe Artist Benjamin West Year 1770 Type Oil on canvas Dimensions 151 cm × 213 cm (59 in × 84 in) Location National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa The Death of General Wolfe is a well-known 1770 painting by Anglo-American artist Benjamin West depicting the death of British General James Wolfe during the 1759 Battle of Quebec of the Seven Years' War. It is an oil on canvas of the Neoclassical period. West made an additional and nearly identical painting of the same scene for King George III in 1771.[1] Details West depicts General Wolfe as a Christ-like figure. This painting has a triangular composition, made by the top of the flag (as the apex) and the positions of the men. It resembles Michelangelo's statue of La Pietà, where Christ is held in the embrace of the Virgin Mary. The depiction of the Native American warrior in the painting — kneeling with his chin on his fist, looking at General Wolfe — has been analyzed in various ways. In art, the touching of one's face with one's hand is a sign of deep thought and intelligence (thus Rodin's The Thinker). Some consider it an idealization inspired by the noble savage concept (Fryd, 75). On the ground in front of Wolfe is his musket, his cartridge box, and bayonet. Wolfe went into battle armed as his men were, although his musket was of higher quality. His dress is also of note. He is wearing a fairly simple red coat, a red waistcoat, red breeches, and a white shirt.
    [Show full text]
  • Benjamin West
    BENJAMIN WEST DISAMBIGUATION: This is Benjamin West (1738-1820) the painter. There was also a Benjamin West (1730-1813) born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts who was for some years a bookseller in Providence, Rhode Island, and for many years published an almanac, before becoming in 1786 Brown University’s Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and then in 1812 the Postmaster of Providence. 1738 October 10: Benjamin West was born to Quaker parents in Springfield (now Swarthmore) in the Pennsylvania colony. 1754 The Quaker community of which 16-year-old Benjamin West was a part approved art training. The young Quaker of noticeable artistic talent was to study both in Philadelphia and in New-York. HDT WHAT? INDEX BENJAMIN WEST BENJAMIN WEST 1756 Benjamin West at the age of 18 removed to Philadelphia and set up as a portrait-painter. 1757 Benjamin West, no longer a Quaker, served as a militia captain in Indian campaigns in Pennsylvania. 2 Copyright 2013 Austin Meredith HDT WHAT? INDEX BENJAMIN WEST BENJAMIN WEST 1758 The painter Benjamin West, formerly a Quaker, relocated his portrait studio from Philadelphia to New-York. 1760 Benjamin West went to Italy to study art. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project 3 HDT WHAT? INDEX BENJAMIN WEST BENJAMIN WEST 1763 Benjamin West traveled from Italy to England. He would be in England for the remainder of his life. His large Biblical and classical themes would win great favor among prelates of the Anglican church. 1768 Benjamin West’s “Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus.” 4 Copyright 2013 Austin Meredith HDT WHAT? INDEX BENJAMIN WEST BENJAMIN WEST 1771 Almost four generations after the putative fact, the famous painting, by Benjamin West, formerly an American Quaker but by this point no longer either a Quaker or an American, of William “Onas” Penn, James Logan, Thomas Lloyd, and Thomas Story allegedly negotiating with the headman Tamanend and the elders of the Lenape tribe near Philadelphia in the early 1680s.
    [Show full text]