Benjamin West | |
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 Self-portrait of West,c. 1763 | |
| Born | (1738-10-10)October 10, 1738 Springfield,Pennsylvania, British America |
| Died | March 11, 1820(1820-03-11) (aged 81) London, England |
| Known for | History painting |
| Patrons | William Henry George III |
Benjamin WestPRA (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was an American-born painter who specialised inhistory painting, creating such works asThe Death of Nelson,The Death of General Wolfe, theTreaty of Paris, andBenjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky.
Entirely self-taught, West soon gained valuable patronage and toured Europe, eventually settling inLondon. He impressed KingGeorge III and was largely responsible for the launch of theRoyal Academy, of which he became the second president (after SirJoshua Reynolds). He was appointed historical painter to the court andSurveyor of the King's Pictures.
West also painted religious subjects, as in his huge workThe Preservation of St Paul after a Shipwreck at Malta, at the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul at theOld Royal Naval College in Greenwich, andChrist Healing the Sick, presented to theNational Gallery.
| External videos | |
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 Introducing Benjamin West,Royal Academy of Art[1] | |
| Lecture 7. Benjamin West's Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus, 57:08,Yale University |
West was born inSpringfield, Pennsylvania, ina house that is now in the borough ofSwarthmore on the campus ofSwarthmore College.[2] He was the tenth child of an innkeeper, John West (1690–1776), and his wife, Sarah Pearson (1697–1756). The family later moved toNewtown Square, Pennsylvania, where his father was the proprietor of theSquare Tavern, still standing in that town.
West told the novelistJohn Galt, with whom, late in his life, he collaborated on a memoir,The Life and Studies of Benjamin West (1816, 1820), that, when he was a child,Native Americans showed him how to make paint by mixing some clay from the river bank with bear grease in a pot. West was anautodidact; while excelling at the arts, "he had little [formal] education and, even when president of the Royal Academy, could scarcely spell".[3] One day, his mother left him alone with his little sister Sally. Benjamin discovered some bottles of ink and began to paint Sally's portrait. When his mother came home, she noticed the painting, picked it up and said, "Why, it's Sally!", and kissed him. Later, he noted, "My mother's kiss made me a painter".[4] He received further art training by the artisan painterWilliam Williams.
From 1746 to 1759, West worked in Pennsylvania, mostly painting portraits. While West was inLancaster in 1756, his patron, a gunsmith namedWilliam Henry, encouraged him to paint aDeath of Socrates based on an engraving inCharles Rollin'sAncient History. His resulting composition, which significantly differs from the source, has been called "the most ambitious and interesting painting produced in colonial America".[5]Dr William Smith, then theprovost of theCollege of Philadelphia, saw the painting in Henry's house and decided to become West's patron, offering him education and, more importantly, connections with wealthy and politically connected Pennsylvanians. During this time West metJohn Wollaston, a famous painter who had immigrated from London. West learned Wollaston's techniques for painting the shimmer of silk and satin, and also adopted some of "his mannerisms, the most prominent of which was to give all his subjects large almond-shaped eyes, which clients thought very chic".[6]
West was a close friend ofBenjamin Franklin, whose portrait he painted. Franklin was the godfather of West's second son, Benjamin.
Sponsored by Smith andWilliam Allen, then reputed to be the wealthiest man inPhiladelphia, West traveled to Italy in 1760 in the company of the Scot William Patoun, a painter who later became an art collector. In common with many artists, architects, and lovers of the fine arts at that time he conducted aGrand Tour. West expanded his repertoire by copying works of Italian painters such asTitian andRaphael direct from the originals.In Rome he met a number of internationalneo-classical artists including German-bornAnton Rafael Mengs, ScottishGavin Hamilton, and AustrianAngelica Kauffman.[7]
In August 1763, West arrived in England,[8] on what he initially intended as a visit on his way back to America.[8] In fact, he never returned to America. He stayed for a month at Bath with William Allen, who was also in the country, and visited his half-brother Thomas West atReading at the urging of his father. In London he was introduced toRichard Wilson and his studentJoshua Reynolds.[9] He moved into a house in Bedford Street,Covent Garden. The first picture he painted in England,Angelica and Medora, along with thePortrait of Robert Monckton,[10] and hisCymon and Iphigenia, painted in Rome, were shown at the exhibitionSociety of Artists inSpring Gardens in 1764.
In 1765, he married Elizabeth Shewell, an American he knew fromPhiladelphia, atSt Martin-in-the-Fields.[11]
Dr Markham, then Headmaster ofWestminster School, introduced West toSamuel Johnson,Edmund Burke,[12]Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol,James Johnson, Bishop of Worcester, andRobert Hay Drummond, Archbishop of York. All three prelates commissioned work from him.[13] In 1766 West proposed a scheme to decorateSt Paul's Cathedral with paintings. It was rejected byRichard Terrick, the Bishop of London, but his idea of painting an altarpiece forSt Stephen Walbrook was accepted.[14] At around this time he also received acclaim for his classical subjects, such asPylades and Orestes andThe Continence of Scipio.[14][15]
West was known in England as the "American Raphael". His Raphaelesque painting ofArchangel Michael Binding the Devil is in the collection ofTrinity College, Cambridge.[16] He said that "Art is the representation of human beauty, ideally perfect in design, graceful and noble in attitude."[17]
Drummond tried to raise subscriptions to fund an annuity for West, so that he could give up portraiture and devote himself entirely to more ambitious compositions. Having failed in this, he tried—with greater success—to convince KingGeorge III to patronise West.[18] West was soon on good terms with the king, and the two men conducted long discussions on the state of art in England, including the idea of the establishment of a Royal Academy.[19] The academy came into being in 1768, with West one of the primary leaders of an opposition group formed out of the existingSociety of Artists of Great Britain; Joshua Reynolds was its first president. In the same year, he was elected to membership in theAmerican Philosophical Society.[20] In a story related byHenry Angelo I (1756–1835) in his book of reminiscences, the actorDavid Garrick, who was a friend of Angelo's father, the Italian sword masterDomenico Angelo, memorably sketched for the teenaged Henry the following exchange: one day the painterFrancesco Zuccarelli, on one of his visits to Domenico, got into a dispute with his fellow royal academicianJohan Zoffany about the merit of West's 1769 paintingThe Departure of Regulus, his first commission for the king. Zuccarelli exclaimed, "Here is a painter who promises to rivalNicolas Poussin", while Zoffany tauntingly replied, "A figo for Poussin, West has already beaten him out of the field."[21]
In 1772, King George appointed him historical painter to the court[22] at an annual fee of £1,000.[11] He painted a series of eight large canvases showing episodes from the life ofEdward III for St George's Hall atWindsor Castle,[23] and proposed a cycle of 36 works on the theme of "the progress of revealed religion" for a chapel at the castle, of which 28 were eventually executed.[11] The largest group of paintings (seven) from the series is currently in Greenville, SC.[24] He also painted nine portraits of members of the royal family,[11] including two of the king himself. He wasSurveyor of the King's Pictures from 1791 until his death.
West painted his most famous, and possibly most influential painting,The Death of General Wolfe, in 1770 and it exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771. The painting became one of the most frequently reproduced images of the period. It returned to theFrench and Indian War setting of hisGeneral Johnson Saving a Wounded French Officer from the Tomahawk of a North American Indian of 1768. When theAmerican Revolution broke out in 1775 he remained ambivalent, and neither spoke out for or against the Revolutionary War in his land of birth.
West became known for his large scalehistory paintings, which use expressive figures, colours and compositional schemes to help the spectator to identify with the scene represented. West called this "epic representation". His 1778 workThe Battle of the Boyne portrayedWilliam of Orange's victory at theBattle of the Boyne in 1690, and strongly influenced subsequent images of William. In 1806 he producedThe Death of Nelson, to commemorateHoratio Nelson's death at theBattle of Trafalgar.
St Paul's Church, in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, has an important enamelledstained glass east window made in 1791 byFrancis Eginton, modelled on analtarpiece paintedc. 1786 by West, now in theDallas Museum of Art.[25][26] It shows theConversion of Paul. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791.[27]
West is also well known for his huge work in the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul which now forms part of theOld Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London. His work,The Preservation of St Paul after a Shipwreck at Malta, measures 25 by 14 ft (7.6 by 4.3 m) and illustrates the Acts of the Apostles: 27 & 28. West also provided the designs for the other paintings executed byBiagio Rebecca in the chapel.
Following a loss of royal patronage at the beginning of the 19th century, West began a series of large-scale religious works. The first,Christ Healing the Sick was originally intended as a gift toPennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia; instead he sold it to theBritish Institution for £3,000, which in turn presented it to theNational Gallery.[11][28] West then made a copy to send to Philadelphia. The success of the picture led him to paint a series of even larger works, including hisDeath on the Pale Horse, exhibited in 1817.[11]
Though initially snubbed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, founding President of the Royal Academy, and by some other Academicians who felt he was over-ambitious, West was elected President of the Royal Academy on the death of Reynolds in 1792. During his time as president, he fell victim to theVenetian secret, a scandal involving a supposedly secret set of materials and techniques used by Renaissance painters in Venice.[29] He resigned in 1805, to be replaced by a fierce rival, architectJames Wyatt. However West was again elected president the following year, and served until his death. In 1810 West was painted by his future successorThomas Lawrence as president of the Royal Academy and thePortrait of Benjamin West was exhibited at the 1811Summer Exhibition.[30]
Many American artists studied under him in London, includingRalph Earl and later his son,Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl,Samuel Morse,Robert Fulton,Charles Willson Peale,Rembrandt Peale,Matthew Pratt,Gilbert Stuart,John Trumbull,Samuel Lovett Waldo,Washington Allston,Thomas Sully,[31]John Green, andAbraham Delanoy.[32]
West died at his house in Newman Street inLondon, on March 11, 1820, and was buried inSt Paul's Cathedral.[33] He had been offered aknighthood by the British Crown, but declined it, believing that he should instead be made apeer.[34]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) For more on this painting, see:Gordon, Scott Paul (2008). "Martial Art: Benjamin West'sDeath of Socrates, Colonial Politics, and the Puzzles of Patronage".William and Mary Quarterly.65 (1):65–100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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| Preceded by | President of the Royal Academy 1792–1805 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Royal Academy 1806–1820 | Succeeded by |
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