Frank Weston Benson
Encyclopedia
Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, (March 24, 1862 – November 15, 1951) was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts
known for his Realistic
portraits, American Impressionist
paintings, watercolors and etching
s. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the Library of Congress
. Some of his best known paintings (Eleanor, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
; Summer, Rhode Island School of Design Museum
) depict his daughters outdoors at Benson's summer home, Wooster Farm, on the island of North Haven, Maine
. He also produced numerous oil, wash and watercolor paintings and etchings of wildfowl and landscapes.
In 1880, Benson began to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
under Otto Grundmann, and in 1883 at the Académie Julian
in Paris. He enjoyed a distinguished career as an instructor and department head at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
. He was a founding member of the Ten American Painters
, American Academy of Arts and Letters and The Guild of Boston Artists
.
. Benson obtained his appreciation of the sea from his grandfather, Captain Samuel Benson. When he was 12, he was given a sailboat in which he explored the waterways and marshes and raced against his siblings. To encourage educational activity, Benson's parents gave their children a weekly allowance to foster independent study and hobbies, such as Salem's Hamilton Hall dance classes, Lyceum lectures or equipment for photography. The children kept active roller-skating, tennis, ice-skating, boxing, fishing and hunting.
Benson's father gave him a shotgun and taught him how to hunt shore birds along the North Shore and wildfowl in the local fields and marshes. He spent nearly all of his weekends hunting or fishing in the fields, marshes and streams. To his good friend Dan Henderson, he wrote of their childhood adventures:
His brother, John Prentiss Benson
, was an architect and painter in his own right. Both sons may have been influenced by their mother, Elisabeth Poole Benson, who Frank once remarked, had "a little room" on the top floor of their house where she would go to paint and "forget about the rest of the world".
illustrator
. At the age of 16, he painted Rail, one of his first oil paintings, after a hunting trip. He began his studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
in 1880, and there befriended Joseph Lindon Smith
, Robert Reid
and Edmund Charles Tarbell. Capitalizing on what he learned, Benson held drawing classes in Salem and painted landscapes during the summer of 1882.
On Benson's 21st birthday his parents gave him a gift of $2,000 to study in Europe. He traveled to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian
from 1883 to 1884 with Edmund Tarbell and Joseph Lindon Smith
; Joseph Lindon Smith
and Benson shared an apartment. At the Academy, Benson studied under Jules-Joseph Lefebvre, William Turner Dannat
, and Gustave Boulanger
. Gustave Boulanger
, one of Benson's teachers at Académie Julian, said to him: "Young man, your career is in your hands... you will do very well." After his study at Académie Julian, Benson traveled to England's Royal Academy to see his painting "After the Storm" on exhibit.
and Diego Velázquez
, masters from the seventeenth-century. Vermeer painted few works during his lifetime, about 35-36 paintings, but nearly each of them has become a masterpiece. The Dutch artist from Delft was astute in his depiction of light and "poetic quality" of his subjects.
Impressionism
, particularly the work of Claude Monet
, played a role in the development of Benson's own American Impressionistic style. He capitalized on Monet's color palette and brush strokes and keenly depicted "reflected light", yet maintained some detail in the composition. Per Chambers, Benson represented American people with an "ideal of grace, of dignity, of elegance."
Benson's watercolors reminded some critics of Winslow Homer
's works.
Works of his friends:
Benson was not one to experiment with emerging art forms, like Cubism
, Expressionism
and Fauvism
. As American Impressionism
extended to Post-Impressionism
about 1913, Benson stayed with traditional genres and his American Impressionist style. As a result, "The pretty, genteel life that Benson had depicted was criticized. Benson's reaction was to turn to nature, and birds replaced the women and children as his objects of interest." said Dean Lahikainen, curator of the Peabody Essex Museum.
, along with Willard Metcalf
and Edward Simmons
. While there, Benson became engaged to the daughter of friends from Salem, Massachusetts
, Ellen Perry Peirson. They married in 1888 when Benson had established himself in his career and raised four children: Eleanor (born 1890), George (born 1891), Elisabeth (born 1892) and Sylvia (born 1898).
School of Art instructor in 1886. The spring of 1889 he began teaching antique drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
and in 1890 became head of the Painting department. The school's reputation grew and its enrollment tripled under the leadership of Philip Hale, Benson and Edmund C. Tarbell
. Students were assessed on the basis of their skill and placed at the appropriate level (from low to high): Hale had a class for beginners, Benson concentrated on how to depict figures while Tarbell covered still lifes. Benson, a favored instructor called "Cher Maitre" ("Dear Master") by his students, taught until 1913.
Benson took a Boston studio in 1888 with Edmund C. Tarbell
. He gained favorable attention in his first showing at the Society of American Artists
in New York, with a piece that suggested the influence of academic Realism
.
At the suggestion of his friend, Joseph Lindon Smith
, Benson spent several summers in Dublin
from 1889-1893, where he painted with and was influenced by Abbott Thayer. By the early 1890s he began using his family as subjects. Benson later recalled it was then that he realized design was the most important component of painting. Consequently, works of the period evidence a greater interest in and command of pattern, silhouette, and abstract design.
" in 1898 that Benson shifted from the decorative painting of murals (for the Library of Congress
) and allegories, to a genuine interest in plein-air
Impressionism
.
Continuing a pattern that the Bensons would follow for years, the family left Boston during the summers. The family spent summers in New Castle, New Hampshire
from 1893 to 1900, where Benson made some of his first Impressionist
paintings, such as Children in the Woods and The Sisters. The popularity of The Sisters, a painting of daughters Elizabeth and Sylvia, won medals in expositions throughout the United States and in Paris, was a prelude to the successes of the next 20 years, when Benson became famous for a series of paintings of his family. After New Castle, the Bensons spent their summers on North Haven Island in Penobscot Bay
in Maine
at Wooster Farm. Benson made Impressionist
works of his family in earnest at Wooster Farm en plein air
. The summer home afforded a great view of the bay and surrounding area. Near the house was an old orchard, large fields provided plenty of space for the children to play and for a garden, and the property stood beside a wooded area.
Like the French Impressionists, Benson focused on capturing light. To his daughter Eleanor he said, "I follow the light, where it comes from, where it goes." A critic said of Benson's work: "It is impossible to believe that mere paint, however clearly laid on, can glow and shimmer and sparkle as does that golden light on his canvas."
Through his role as a teacher, work as an artist and affiliation with professional organizations for artists, Benson was a leader in American Impressionism
. In 1898 Benson and nine other artists including William Merritt Chase
, Thomas Dewing
, Childe Hassam
, and J. Alden Weir
formed "Ten American Painters
". They conducted annual exhibitions of their works in New York City and often showed in other cities, such as Boston, and became known as the American Impressionists. The Traditional Fine Arts Organization claimed he was "one of the last great American Impressionists."
paintings of his family, he made many seascape and landscape paintings. He used several mediums or techniques to capture his love of wildlife, including wash
, watercolor
, oil
, lithography
and etching
. Regarding his artistic mastery, Peabody Essex Museum curator Dean Lahikainen commented: "Benson was a unique artist, in that he had mastered so many different mediums and subjects. And from his early works right until the very end, light is what he was interested in."
Reminiscent of Benson's original goal as an artist to become an ornithological illustrator, birds were the subjects of most of his washes, etchings, and watercolors.
Wash paintings
Etching
Watercolors
Oil paintings
Benson was elected in 1919 as the first president of the Essex County Ornithological Society.
At the request of fellow artist and conservationist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling
, Benson designed the second Federal Duck Stamp
in 1935.
.
To date the highest price brought at auction for an oil painting by Benson is $4.1 million, realized at Sotheby's
in 1995.
On October 19, 2006, a watercolor painting by Benson was sold at auction for $165,002. The painting was anonymously donated to an Oregon
Goodwill Industries
site, most likely without the owner knowing of its value. Bidding on the shopgoodwill.com website started at $10, and increased after the work was authenticated.
Retroactive exhibitions of his work occurred in 1921 at the Guild of Boston Artists in 1917,. Corcoran Gallery of Art
, in 1924 at the Carnegie Institute
and the Akron Art Museum
, in 1936 at Guy E. Mayer Gallery in New York and in 1938 in the Museum of Fine Arts
in Boston. Such was its popularity that the exhibition broke the museum's attendance records.
Here are a few awards that Benson won:
He received an honorary Master of Fine Arts
degree from Tufts University
in 1930 and was selected into the National Institute of Letters and Arts in 1945.
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
known for his Realistic
Realism
Realism, Realist or Realistic are terms that describe any manifestation of philosophical realism, the belief that reality exists independently of observers, whether in philosophy itself or in the applied arts and sciences. In this broad sense it is frequently contrasted with Idealism.Realism in the...
portraits, American Impressionist
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
paintings, watercolors and etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. Some of his best known paintings (Eleanor, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
; Summer, Rhode Island School of Design Museum
Rhode Island School of Design Museum
Rhode Island School of Design Museum is a prominent art museum in Providence, Rhode Island affiliated with the well-known Rhode Island School of Design...
) depict his daughters outdoors at Benson's summer home, Wooster Farm, on the island of North Haven, Maine
North Haven, Maine
North Haven is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States, in Penobscot Bay. The town is both a year-round island community and a prominent summer colony. The population was 381 at the 2000 census...
. He also produced numerous oil, wash and watercolor paintings and etchings of wildfowl and landscapes.
In 1880, Benson began to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
under Otto Grundmann, and in 1883 at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris. He enjoyed a distinguished career as an instructor and department head at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
. He was a founding member of the Ten American Painters
Ten American Painters
The Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
, American Academy of Arts and Letters and The Guild of Boston Artists
The Guild of Boston Artists
The Guild of Boston Artists was founded in 1914 by a handful of Boston artists working in the academic and realist traditions. Among the founding members were Frank Weston Benson, William McGregor Paxton and Edmund C. Tarbell, who served as its first president through 1924...
.
Early years
Frank Weston Benson was born to George Wiggin Benson, a successful cotton broker, and Elisabeth Poole, from families who founded Salem, MassachusettsSalem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
. Benson obtained his appreciation of the sea from his grandfather, Captain Samuel Benson. When he was 12, he was given a sailboat in which he explored the waterways and marshes and raced against his siblings. To encourage educational activity, Benson's parents gave their children a weekly allowance to foster independent study and hobbies, such as Salem's Hamilton Hall dance classes, Lyceum lectures or equipment for photography. The children kept active roller-skating, tennis, ice-skating, boxing, fishing and hunting.
Benson's father gave him a shotgun and taught him how to hunt shore birds along the North Shore and wildfowl in the local fields and marshes. He spent nearly all of his weekends hunting or fishing in the fields, marshes and streams. To his good friend Dan Henderson, he wrote of their childhood adventures:
"We used to spend our Saturdays chasing coot and old squaws in Salem HarborSalem HarborSalem Harbor is a harbor in northeastern Massachusetts spanning an area north and south of Salem. Historically the Salem Harbor was the site of one of the major international ports in the colonies...
. Then, after working hard all day to get one bird, in we would assemble at Sam Shrum’s or mine and chew the rag until we were so sleepy we could not hold up our heads. What a minute account each had to give of each movement of every bird seen and every shot missed. It was almost criminal to miss an easy shot in those days, so many excuses had to be invented. One word would have served for all in my case if it had been invented then, I was generally 'rattled,' I think, when you and I went ducking."
His brother, John Prentiss Benson
John Prentiss Benson
John Prentiss Benson was an American architect and artist noted for his maritime paintings.-Early life:...
, was an architect and painter in his own right. Both sons may have been influenced by their mother, Elisabeth Poole Benson, who Frank once remarked, had "a little room" on the top floor of their house where she would go to paint and "forget about the rest of the world".
Artistic studies
An avid birdwatcher and wildfowl hunter, Benson wanted to be an ornithologicalOrnithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. At the age of 16, he painted Rail, one of his first oil paintings, after a hunting trip. He began his studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
in 1880, and there befriended Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith ), was an American painter, best known for his extraordinarily faithful and lively representations of antiquities, especially Egyptian tomb reliefs. He was a founding member of the art colony at Dublin, New Hampshire.-Background:Smith was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on...
, Robert Reid
Robert Reid (painter)
Robert Lewis Reid was an American Impressionist painter and muralist.-Life and work:Robert Reid was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under Otto Grundmann, where he was also later an instructor...
and Edmund Charles Tarbell. Capitalizing on what he learned, Benson held drawing classes in Salem and painted landscapes during the summer of 1882.
On Benson's 21st birthday his parents gave him a gift of $2,000 to study in Europe. He traveled to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
from 1883 to 1884 with Edmund Tarbell and Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith ), was an American painter, best known for his extraordinarily faithful and lively representations of antiquities, especially Egyptian tomb reliefs. He was a founding member of the art colony at Dublin, New Hampshire.-Background:Smith was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on...
; Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith ), was an American painter, best known for his extraordinarily faithful and lively representations of antiquities, especially Egyptian tomb reliefs. He was a founding member of the art colony at Dublin, New Hampshire.-Background:Smith was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on...
and Benson shared an apartment. At the Academy, Benson studied under Jules-Joseph Lefebvre, William Turner Dannat
William Turner Dannat
-Biography:William T. Dannat was born in 1853 at Hempstead, New York the younger of two boys raised by William H. and Susan Dannat. His father was a successful lumber dealer who, with Charles E. Pell, founded the firm Dannat and Pell. Later William’s older brother David would succeed their...
, and Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger was a French figure painter known for his Neo-Grec style. He was born at Paris, studied with Delaroche and Jollivet, and in 1849 took the Prix de Rome. His paintings are prime examples of academic art of the time, particularly history painting...
. Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Boulanger
Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger was a French figure painter known for his Neo-Grec style. He was born at Paris, studied with Delaroche and Jollivet, and in 1849 took the Prix de Rome. His paintings are prime examples of academic art of the time, particularly history painting...
, one of Benson's teachers at Académie Julian, said to him: "Young man, your career is in your hands... you will do very well." After his study at Académie Julian, Benson traveled to England's Royal Academy to see his painting "After the Storm" on exhibit.
Influences
Benson was "deeply influenced" by Johannes VermeerJohannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
and Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
, masters from the seventeenth-century. Vermeer painted few works during his lifetime, about 35-36 paintings, but nearly each of them has become a masterpiece. The Dutch artist from Delft was astute in his depiction of light and "poetic quality" of his subjects.
Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
, particularly the work of Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, played a role in the development of Benson's own American Impressionistic style. He capitalized on Monet's color palette and brush strokes and keenly depicted "reflected light", yet maintained some detail in the composition. Per Chambers, Benson represented American people with an "ideal of grace, of dignity, of elegance."
Benson's watercolors reminded some critics of Winslow Homer
Winslow Homer
Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art....
's works.
Works of his friends:
Benson was not one to experiment with emerging art forms, like Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
, Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
and Fauvism
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
. As American Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
extended to Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
about 1913, Benson stayed with traditional genres and his American Impressionist style. As a result, "The pretty, genteel life that Benson had depicted was criticized. Benson's reaction was to turn to nature, and birds replaced the women and children as his objects of interest." said Dean Lahikainen, curator of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Marriage and children
In the summer of 1884 Benson painted at ConcarneauConcarneau
Concarneau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding...
, along with Willard Metcalf
Willard Metcalf
Willard Leroy Metcalf was an American artist born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and later attended Académie Julian, Paris. After early figure-painting and illustration, he became prominent as a landscape painter...
and Edward Simmons
Edward Simmons (painter)
Edward Emerson Simmons was an American Impressionist painter, remembered for his mural work. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister....
. While there, Benson became engaged to the daughter of friends from Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, Ellen Perry Peirson. They married in 1888 when Benson had established himself in his career and raised four children: Eleanor (born 1890), George (born 1891), Elisabeth (born 1892) and Sylvia (born 1898).
Instructor
Benson became a Portland, MainePortland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
School of Art instructor in 1886. The spring of 1889 he began teaching antique drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
and in 1890 became head of the Painting department. The school's reputation grew and its enrollment tripled under the leadership of Philip Hale, Benson and Edmund C. Tarbell
Edmund C. Tarbell
Edmund Charles Tarbell was an American Impressionist painter. He was a member of the Ten American Painters...
. Students were assessed on the basis of their skill and placed at the appropriate level (from low to high): Hale had a class for beginners, Benson concentrated on how to depict figures while Tarbell covered still lifes. Benson, a favored instructor called "Cher Maitre" ("Dear Master") by his students, taught until 1913.
Works
William H. Gerdts, art historian, wrote of Benson's work: "Frank Benson painted some of the most beautiful pictures ever executed by an American artist. They are images alive with reflections of youth and optimism, projecting a way of life at once innocent and idealized and yet resonant with a sense of certain, selective realities of contemporary times."Realism
Benson opened his first studio in Salem in 1886 with his friend, Phillip Little, and began painting portraits, an occupation in which Benson took seriously. He once said: "The more a painter knows about his subject, the more he studies and understands it, the more the true nature of it is perceived by whoever looks at it, even though it is extremely subtle and not easy to see or understand. A painter must search deeply into the aspects of a subject, must know and understand it thoroughly before he can represent it well."Benson took a Boston studio in 1888 with Edmund C. Tarbell
Edmund C. Tarbell
Edmund Charles Tarbell was an American Impressionist painter. He was a member of the Ten American Painters...
. He gained favorable attention in his first showing at the Society of American Artists
Society of American Artists
The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
in New York, with a piece that suggested the influence of academic Realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
.
At the suggestion of his friend, Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith
Joseph Lindon Smith ), was an American painter, best known for his extraordinarily faithful and lively representations of antiquities, especially Egyptian tomb reliefs. He was a founding member of the art colony at Dublin, New Hampshire.-Background:Smith was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on...
, Benson spent several summers in Dublin
Dublin, New Hampshire
Dublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,597 at the 2010 census. It is home to both the Dublin School and Yankee Magazine.-History:...
from 1889-1893, where he painted with and was influenced by Abbott Thayer. By the early 1890s he began using his family as subjects. Benson later recalled it was then that he realized design was the most important component of painting. Consequently, works of the period evidence a greater interest in and command of pattern, silhouette, and abstract design.
Impressionism
It was only after joining the "Ten American PaintersTen American Painters
The Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
" in 1898 that Benson shifted from the decorative painting of murals (for the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
) and allegories, to a genuine interest in plein-air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
.
Continuing a pattern that the Bensons would follow for years, the family left Boston during the summers. The family spent summers in New Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 968 at the 2010 census. It is the smallest town in New Hampshire, and the only one located entirely on islands. It is home to Fort Constitution Historic Site, Fort Stark Historic Site, and the New Castle...
from 1893 to 1900, where Benson made some of his first Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
paintings, such as Children in the Woods and The Sisters. The popularity of The Sisters, a painting of daughters Elizabeth and Sylvia, won medals in expositions throughout the United States and in Paris, was a prelude to the successes of the next 20 years, when Benson became famous for a series of paintings of his family. After New Castle, the Bensons spent their summers on North Haven Island in Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
at Wooster Farm. Benson made Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
works of his family in earnest at Wooster Farm en plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
. The summer home afforded a great view of the bay and surrounding area. Near the house was an old orchard, large fields provided plenty of space for the children to play and for a garden, and the property stood beside a wooded area.
Like the French Impressionists, Benson focused on capturing light. To his daughter Eleanor he said, "I follow the light, where it comes from, where it goes." A critic said of Benson's work: "It is impossible to believe that mere paint, however clearly laid on, can glow and shimmer and sparkle as does that golden light on his canvas."
Through his role as a teacher, work as an artist and affiliation with professional organizations for artists, Benson was a leader in American Impressionism
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
. In 1898 Benson and nine other artists including William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
, Thomas Dewing
Thomas Dewing
Thomas Wilmer Dewing was an American painter working at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts. He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, and later settled into a studio in New York City...
, Childe Hassam
Childe Hassam
Frederick Childe Hassam was a prolific American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums...
, and J. Alden Weir
J. Alden Weir
Julian Alden Weir was an American impressionist painter and member of the Cos Cob Art Colony near Greenwich, Connecticut...
formed "Ten American Painters
Ten American Painters
The Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
". They conducted annual exhibitions of their works in New York City and often showed in other cities, such as Boston, and became known as the American Impressionists. The Traditional Fine Arts Organization claimed he was "one of the last great American Impressionists."
Wildlife
Before Benson began his ImpressionistImpressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
paintings of his family, he made many seascape and landscape paintings. He used several mediums or techniques to capture his love of wildlife, including wash
Wash (painting)
thumb|Example of a wash drawing by [[R. G. Skerrett]].A wash is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is very wet with solvent and holds a small paint load is applied to a wet or dry support such as paper or primed or raw canvas. The result is a smooth and uniform area that ideally lacks...
, watercolor
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
, oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
and etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
. Regarding his artistic mastery, Peabody Essex Museum curator Dean Lahikainen commented: "Benson was a unique artist, in that he had mastered so many different mediums and subjects. And from his early works right until the very end, light is what he was interested in."
Reminiscent of Benson's original goal as an artist to become an ornithological illustrator, birds were the subjects of most of his washes, etchings, and watercolors.
Wash paintings
- At the Cape Cod hunting cabin that he purchased with his brothers-in-law, Benson began working with black-and-white washWash (painting)thumb|Example of a wash drawing by [[R. G. Skerrett]].A wash is a painting technique in which a paint brush that is very wet with solvent and holds a small paint load is applied to a wet or dry support such as paper or primed or raw canvas. The result is a smooth and uniform area that ideally lacks...
in the 1890s. The works were a commercial success, so much so that Benson was not able to keep up with the demand.
Etching
- In 1914, Benson began etching as an interesting pastime, one that along with his eye for aesthetics, required him to master the complex technique for the desired effect. In 1915 he first exhibited etchings of wild fowl, to popular acclaim. Benson turned increasingly to the depiction of landscapes featuring wildlife, an outgrowth of his interest in hunting and fishing. He went on to produce a steady and profitable output of etchings. Once most recognized for his Impressionist paintings, he became equally popular with his etchings. Arthur Philpott, a critic for the Boston Globe, claimed Benson was the "best known and most popular etcher in the world." To one of his daughters he said, "The whole process from the bare plate to the finished print is full of fascinating possibilities and possible failures." Benson, one of the best printmakers of the 20th century, is credited with making wildlife prints a distinct genre.
Watercolors
- Benson's watercolor paintings began on a Canadian fishing trip in 1921. and were often the products of bird-hunting sojourns in Cape CodCape CodCape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
and salmon fishing expeditions in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. were favorably compared to similar works by . A critic wrote of his watercolors, "The love of the almost primitive wilderness which appears in many of Homer'sWinslow HomerWinslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art....
landscapes and the swift, sure touch with which he suggests rather than describes--these also characterize Benson's work. The solitude of the northern woods is very much like Homer's." Benson made more than 500 watercolors in his lifetime.
Oil paintings
- Hunter in a Boat (1915) and Twilight (1930) are a few examples of Benson's oil paintings of wildlife settings.
Benson was elected in 1919 as the first president of the Essex County Ornithological Society.
At the request of fellow artist and conservationist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling
Jay Norwood Darling
Jay Norwood Darling , better known as Ding Darling, was a Pulitzer-Prize winning American cartoonist....
, Benson designed the second Federal Duck Stamp
Federal Duck Stamp
The federal duck stamp was created through a wetlands conservation program. President Herbert Hoover signed the Migratory Bird Conservation Act in 1929 to authorize the acquisition and preservation of wetlands as waterfowl habitat....
in 1935.
Death and Posthumous sales
He is buried in Salem's Harmony Grove CemeteryHarmony Grove Cemetery
Harmony Grove Cemetery is a cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. It was established in 1840 and is located at 30 Grove Street.The cemetery includes the Gothic revival Blake Memorial Chapel of 1905.-Notable burials:...
.
To date the highest price brought at auction for an oil painting by Benson is $4.1 million, realized at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
in 1995.
On October 19, 2006, a watercolor painting by Benson was sold at auction for $165,002. The painting was anonymously donated to an Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
site, most likely without the owner knowing of its value. Bidding on the shopgoodwill.com website started at $10, and increased after the work was authenticated.
Exhibitions and shows
- 1885 - After the Storm at the Royal Academy Royal AcademyThe Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in London - 1889 - National Academy of DesignNational Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in New York, won first prize for Orpheus - 1891 - First private show of Benson's work, Chase Gallery, Boston with Edmund C. TarbellEdmund C. TarbellEdmund Charles Tarbell was an American Impressionist painter. He was a member of the Ten American Painters...
- 1894 - First known wildfowl exhibition, exhibited Swan Flight
- 1897 - With nine other men, held their own exhibition in New York City
- 1898 - First exhibition as the Ten American PaintersTen American PaintersThe Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
in New York City - 1899 - Second exhibition as the Ten American PaintersTen American PaintersThe Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
in New York City, including Children in the Woods, the first ImpressionistImpressionismImpressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
painting exhibited by Benson - 1900 - The Sisters was presented at the Paris Exposition Universelle and won a silver medal
- 1904 - First known exhition of a still life by Benson
- 1912 - First known showing of black and white wash drawings, Ten American PaintersTen American PaintersThe Ten American Painters, generally known as The Ten, resigned from the Society of American Artists in late 1897 to protest the commercialism of that group's exhibitions, and their circus-like atmosphere...
show - 1913 - First one-man show devoted to wash drawings of wildfowl, Copley Society of ArtCopley Society of ArtThe Copley Society of art is America's oldest non-profit art association. It was founded in 1879 by the first graduating class of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and continues to play an important role in promoting its member artists and the visual arts in Boston...
, Boston - 1915 - Benson's etchings were exhibited for the first time, The Guild of Boston ArtistsThe Guild of Boston ArtistsThe Guild of Boston Artists was founded in 1914 by a handful of Boston artists working in the academic and realist traditions. Among the founding members were Frank Weston Benson, William McGregor Paxton and Edmund C. Tarbell, who served as its first president through 1924...
- 1915 - First one-man show devoted to etchings, George Gage Gallery
- 1915 - First one-man show devoted to etchings in New York, Kennedy GalleriesKennedy GalleriesKennedy Galleries is one of the oldest art galleries in the United States. It was founded by Hermann Wunderlich in 1874 under the name of Hermann Wunderlich & Co. When Wunderlich died in 1892, Edward G. Kennedy took over the gallery, whose name was changed in 1912 to Kennedy & Co...
- 1916 - First one-man show devoted to etchings outside of the United States, British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
- 1922 - First exhibition of his watercolors in New York, Boston and Cleveland
- 1945 - His last one-man exhibition of etchings at Arthur Harlow & Sons Gallery, New York
- 1950 - His final exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsThe Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
Retroactive exhibitions of his work occurred in 1921 at the Guild of Boston Artists in 1917,. Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, in 1924 at the Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
and the Akron Art Museum
Akron Art Museum
The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, USA.The museum first opened its doors on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library...
, in 1936 at Guy E. Mayer Gallery in New York and in 1938 in the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
in Boston. Such was its popularity that the exhibition broke the museum's attendance records.
Awards and acclaim
In the 1890s he began receiving his first awards, after the turn of the century he won awards for his Impressionist paintings, and his wildlife watercolors and etchings won awards in the 1920s and 1930s and up to age 86. In 1914 the Boston Transcript called Benson "America's Most Medalled Painter."Here are a few awards that Benson won:
- 1890 Hallgarten Prize, National Academy in New York for Orpheus
- 1891 Thomas B. Clark Prize, National Academy
- 1896 Shaw Fund Prize, Society of American Artists
- 1900 Silver Medal, Paris Exposition Universelle for The Sisters
- 1906 Thomas R. Proctor Prize, National Academy
- Henry Ward Ranger Fund prize for Still Life, now at the National Museum of American Art
He received an honorary Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
degree from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in 1930 and was selected into the National Institute of Letters and Arts in 1945.
Organizations
- 1888 - Became a member of the Society of American ArtistsSociety of American ArtistsThe Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
- 1897 - Elected associate, National Academy of DesignNational Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
, New York - 1898 - Founding member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 1898 - Resigned from the Society of American ArtistsSociety of American ArtistsThe Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
- 1905 - Achieved full membership status, National Academy of DesignNational Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
, New York - 1914 - With six others, founded The Guild of Boston ArtistsThe Guild of Boston ArtistsThe Guild of Boston Artists was founded in 1914 by a handful of Boston artists working in the academic and realist traditions. Among the founding members were Frank Weston Benson, William McGregor Paxton and Edmund C. Tarbell, who served as its first president through 1924...
Having difficulty getting local artist's work exhibited outside of Boston, Benson helped found the The Guild of Boston ArtistsThe Guild of Boston ArtistsThe Guild of Boston Artists was founded in 1914 by a handful of Boston artists working in the academic and realist traditions. Among the founding members were Frank Weston Benson, William McGregor Paxton and Edmund C. Tarbell, who served as its first president through 1924...
and was the president for 13 years. Modeled on the historic guilds of Europe, the organization held high professional standards in a supportive environment. In their Newberry gallery, annual shows of works of all members were interspersed with two-week one-person shows that highlighted the work of individual artists. - 1926 - Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...