Gerrit Beneker
Encyclopedia
Gerrit Albertus Beneker (1882–1934) was an American painter and illustrator best known for his paintings of industrial scenes and for his poster work in World War I
.
, the son of Bartel Albertus Beneker, who had immigrated from Serooskerke in the Netherlands
, and Pauline Catherine Steketee. He first studied at the Chicago Art Institute, where his teachers included John Vanderpoel
and Frederick Richardson
; later he transferred to the Art Students League in New York. In September 1907 he married Flora Judd Van Vranken from Marcellus, New York
, with whom he would have four children.
After working as an illustrator in New York, he became a student of Charles Webster Hawthorne
in 1912 at the Cape Cod School of Art
,; although his work brought about frequent moves, he returned to the area in the summers and in 1920 bought a summer house in Truro, Massachusetts
.
In July 1918, Beneker was hired, under the title of "Expert Aid, Navy Department", to create posters and illustrations for the war effort. It was in this period that he painted his most familiar work, "Sure We'll Finish the Job", which sold over three million copies. Later he spent four years painting workers of the Hydraulic Pressed Steel Company in Cleveland, Ohio as part of a labor-management relations improvement project; similar projects were carried out at the General Electric
plant in Schenectady, New York
and at the Rohm and Haas
plant in Philadelphia.
He died on 23 October 1934 in Truro.
Beneker was one of the founders of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum
. His papers are held by the Archives of American Art
of the Smithsonian Institution
.
and Harper's Weekly
. He was also noted for his Ivory Soap advertisements. Most of his work consists of portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings of industrial and manual labor, and it is for the last that he is best known.
Beneker's industrial paintings are optimistic and uplift the common laborer. James Guimond lists him, along with such other artists as Alfred Steiglitz, Joseph Stella
, and Margaret Bourke-White
, as a participant in "a popular genre of industrial art that was a kind of sooty romanticism." His industrial paintings toured the country, and Beneker was in great demand as a lecturer.
While his portraiture and industrial works are conservatively realistic, his landscapes are noted for their impressionism
.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Biography
Beneker was born on January 26, 1882 in Grand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, the son of Bartel Albertus Beneker, who had immigrated from Serooskerke in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Pauline Catherine Steketee. He first studied at the Chicago Art Institute, where his teachers included John Vanderpoel
John Vanderpoel
John Henry Vanderpoel was a Dutch-American artist and teacher, best known as an instructor of figure drawing. His book The Human Figure, a standard art school resource featuring numerous of his drawings based on his teaching at the Art Institute of Chicago, was published in 1907.Born in the...
and Frederick Richardson
Frederick Richardson
Frederick Richardson was an American illustrator of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, perhaps best remembered for his illustrations of works by L. Frank Baum....
; later he transferred to the Art Students League in New York. In September 1907 he married Flora Judd Van Vranken from Marcellus, New York
Marcellus, New York
Marcellus, New York may refer to:*Marcellus , New York in Onondaga County*Marcellus , New York, located within the Town of Marcellus...
, with whom he would have four children.
After working as an illustrator in New York, he became a student of Charles Webster Hawthorne
Charles Webster Hawthorne
Charles Webster Hawthorne was an American portrait and genre painter and a noted teacher who founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899....
in 1912 at the Cape Cod School of Art
Cape Cod School of Art
The Cape Cod School of Art was the first outdoor school of figure painting in America; it was started by Charles Webster Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1898....
,; although his work brought about frequent moves, he returned to the area in the summers and in 1920 bought a summer house in Truro, Massachusetts
Truro, Massachusetts
Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located two hours outside Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the northern tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as the "Outer Cape"...
.
In July 1918, Beneker was hired, under the title of "Expert Aid, Navy Department", to create posters and illustrations for the war effort. It was in this period that he painted his most familiar work, "Sure We'll Finish the Job", which sold over three million copies. Later he spent four years painting workers of the Hydraulic Pressed Steel Company in Cleveland, Ohio as part of a labor-management relations improvement project; similar projects were carried out at the General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
plant in Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
and at the Rohm and Haas
Rohm and Haas
Rohm and Haas Company, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based company, manufactures miscellaneous materials. Formerly a Fortune 500 Company, Rohm and Haas employs more than 17,000 people in 27 countries, with its last sales revenue reported as an independent company at USD 8.9 billion. On July 10,...
plant in Philadelphia.
He died on 23 October 1934 in Truro.
Beneker was one of the founders of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum
Provincetown Art Association and Museum
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum is located at 460 Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is the most attended art museum on Cape Cod. The museum's permanent collection includes over 2,500 objects, a number which...
. His papers are held by the Archives of American Art
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...
of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
.
Analysis
Beneker's output was prodigious, with some five hundred works in oil produced over a thirty year period, exclusive of his many illustrations. The latter appeared in over eighty publications including Scientific AmericanScientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
and Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
. He was also noted for his Ivory Soap advertisements. Most of his work consists of portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings of industrial and manual labor, and it is for the last that he is best known.
Beneker's industrial paintings are optimistic and uplift the common laborer. James Guimond lists him, along with such other artists as Alfred Steiglitz, Joseph Stella
Joseph Stella
Joseph Stella was an Italian-born, American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America. He is associated with the American Precisionism movement of the 1910s-1940s....
, and Margaret Bourke-White
Margaret Bourke-White
Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and documentary photographer. She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet Industry, the first female war correspondent and the first female photographer for Henry Luce's Life magazine, where her...
, as a participant in "a popular genre of industrial art that was a kind of sooty romanticism." His industrial paintings toured the country, and Beneker was in great demand as a lecturer.
While his portraiture and industrial works are conservatively realistic, his landscapes are noted for their 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...
.
External links
- "Gerrit Beneker's Labor Posters" in
- "Art – A Contructive Force" article by Beneker in