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Published of the work of Benjamin West , Engraved by J Stow (noted London Engraver) Published in Jan 1795 by R. Bowyer, Pall Mall, London. Engraved work measure 12.50 by 8.50 More »
Published of the work of Benjamin West , Engraved by J Stow (noted London Engraver) Published in Jan 1795 by R. Bowyer, Pall Mall, London. Engraved work measure 12.50 by 8.50 inches approximate.This is in good condition, with narrow margins on antique wove paper.Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 — March 11, 1820) was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence.He was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in a house that is now on the campus of Swarthmore College, as the tenth child of an innkeeper. The family later moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where his father was the proprietor of the Square Tavern, still standing in that town. West told John 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. 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†(Hughes, 70). From 1746 to 1759, West worked in Pennsylvania, mostly painting portraits. While in Lancaster, PA, in 1756, West’s patron, a gunsmith named William Henry, encouraged him to design a “Death of Socrates†based on an engraving in Charles Rollin’s Ancient History; the resulting composition, which significantly differs from West’s source, has been called “the most ambitious and interesting painting produced in colonial America.†Dr William Smith, then the provost of the College of Philadelphia, saw the painting in Henry’s house and decided to patronize West, offering him education and, more important, connections with wealthy and politically-connected Pennsylvanians. During this time West met John Wollaston, a famous painter who 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 chicâ€(Hughes, 71). In 1760, sponsored by Smith and William Allen, reputed to be the wealthiest man in Philadelphia, West traveled to Italy where he expanded his repertoire by copying the works of Italian painters such as Titian and Raphael. West is known for his large scale history paintings, which use expressive figures, colors and compositional schemes to help the spectator to identify with the scene represented. West called this “epic representationâ€.Works by West, Reynolds, Gainsborough executed in oil were engraved by leading engravers of the day (many were members of the Royal Academy) commissioned by the artist to have these published as Engravings were very profitable for the artist and help to make the artists works better known for the collecting public. These were appreciated as a genuine art form in the 17 and 18 Centuries UNLIKE the poor quality of Engravings produced in the following Century. « Less
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