Who is in the painting by Benjamin West?
Much quieter and more somber than his dramatic Neoclassical history paintings, The West Family presents an everyday, domestic scene. West’s wife Elizabeth, dressed in white, holds their young son Benjamin Jr. on her lap while the older Raphael stands near, resting his arm on the chair and looking down at his brother.
When did Benjamin West paint the death of General Wolfe?
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.
Where did Benjamin West do most of his work?
Benjamin West was an autodidact; while excelling at the arts, “he had little [formal] education and, even when president of the Royal Academy, could scarcely spell”. From 1746 to 1759, West worked in Pennsylvania, mostly painting portraits.
How big is the painting of Agrippina by Benjamin West?
On this vast, almost 8-foot wide canvas, the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to the figural group in the center of the composition; Agrippina and other women and children are all shrouded in white, with their heads covered and eyes cast down, as they disembark from a boat.
Where did Benjamin West do most of his paintings?
From 1746 to 1759, West worked in Pennsylvania, mostly painting portraits. While West was in Lancaster in 1756, his patron, a gunsmith named William Henry, encouraged him to paint a Death of Socrates based on an engraving in Charles Rollin’s Ancient History.
On this vast, almost 8-foot wide canvas, the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to the figural group in the center of the composition; Agrippina and other women and children are all shrouded in white, with their heads covered and eyes cast down, as they disembark from a boat.
Why did Benjamin West paint the death of Socrates?
While West was in Lancaster in 1756, his patron, a gunsmith named William Henry, encouraged him to paint a Death of Socrates based on an engraving in Charles Rollin’s Ancient History. His resulting composition, which significantly differs from the source, has been called “the most ambitious and interesting painting produced in colonial America”.
Why did Benjamin West paint the history of Rome?
The subject came from Tacitus’s History of Imperial Rome, and it was popular with Neoclassical history painters. It became one of West’s most important works after it was commissioned by the Archbishop of York who, so pleased with it, arranged for West to show it to King George III.
