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) .