Nicholas Benson
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Waite Benson is a third generation American stone carver and owner of The John Stevens Shop
in Newport, Rhode Island
. He was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.
at age fifteen for his father, John Benson
. He studied Drawing and Design at State University of New York at Purchase
in 1986. Benson spent 1987 at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel
in Basel, Switzerland where he studied calligraphy
, type design, typography, and drawing under Andre Gurtler, Christian Mengelt and Armin Hofmann
.
He returned to the U.S. in 1988 and continued to work under John Benson in The John Stevens Shop. His father passed on the business to him in 1993. Benson expands the traditional arts of hand lettering and stone carving through his designs. He is also committed to teaching young artisans, in the hopes that they will go on to create their own works and thereby ensure that the legacy of this centuries-old artistic practice endures. He has had several design students, especially from nearby Rhode Island School of Design
, and apprentices work with him in the shop and on projects.
, “but the proportion of the letter, the design of the particular letter form itself, is extremely important too. Equally important is the cadence of the text, how the negative space is used, word spacing, line spacing—all of that is absolutely crucial to good inscriptional carving.” He developed an original font that draws on both classical Greek letter forms and contemporary sans serif lettering for the new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, currently in planning stages for a site on the National Mall
.
His carvings can be found in the National Gallery of Art
, the Yale University Art Gallery
, at Brown University
and the National World War II Memorial
, in Washington, D.C.
Benson's work at The John Stevens Shop
has also included personal gravestones and tomb markers. Benson's father, grandfather and his predecessors at the Shop have created individual gravestones on materials including grey slate
and Rhode Island granite
.
, Rhode Island
, with his wife and two children.
The John Stevens Shop
The John Stevens Shop, founded in 1705, is a stone carving business in Newport, Rhode Island that is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in America.-History:John Stevens was born in Oxfordshire, England...
in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. He was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.
Early life
Nick Benson began working in his family business, The John Stevens ShopThe John Stevens Shop
The John Stevens Shop, founded in 1705, is a stone carving business in Newport, Rhode Island that is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in America.-History:John Stevens was born in Oxfordshire, England...
at age fifteen for his father, John Benson
John Benson (artisan)
John Everett Benson , known as Fud, is a calligrapher, stonecarver and typeface designer who has created inscriptions for monuments including the John F. Kennedy memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, the National Gallery of Art, and the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.John Benson was born in...
. He studied Drawing and Design at State University of New York at Purchase
State University of New York at Purchase
Purchase College, State University of New York, is a public four-year college located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York system...
in 1986. Benson spent 1987 at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel
Schule für Gestaltung Basel
Switzerland's Schule für Gestaltung Basel at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule and its students have influenced the international graphic design community since it opened in 1968. Its tradition was shaped by influential personalities such as Armin Hofmann, Emil Ruder, Kurt Hauert and Wolfgang Weingart...
in Basel, Switzerland where he studied calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
, type design, typography, and drawing under Andre Gurtler, Christian Mengelt and Armin Hofmann
Armin Hofmann
Armin Hofmann is a Swiss graphic designer. Hofmann followed Emil Ruder as head of the graphic design department at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel and was instrumental in developing the graphic design style known as the Swiss Style...
.
He returned to the U.S. in 1988 and continued to work under John Benson in The John Stevens Shop. His father passed on the business to him in 1993. Benson expands the traditional arts of hand lettering and stone carving through his designs. He is also committed to teaching young artisans, in the hopes that they will go on to create their own works and thereby ensure that the legacy of this centuries-old artistic practice endures. He has had several design students, especially from nearby Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
, and apprentices work with him in the shop and on projects.
Work
Benson has created a distinctive architectural lettering for these architectural and monumental commissions, with careful attention to the effects that large scale, shifting light, and long-term weathering have on the letters, as well as carefully crafting very small details of each letter. “The entire composition is key,” he explained in an interview with the architectural historian Judith DupréJudith Dupre
Judith Dupré is a writer and public speaker. She is the author of several works of narrative nonfiction that explore the intersection of art, photography, and architecture...
, “but the proportion of the letter, the design of the particular letter form itself, is extremely important too. Equally important is the cadence of the text, how the negative space is used, word spacing, line spacing—all of that is absolutely crucial to good inscriptional carving.” He developed an original font that draws on both classical Greek letter forms and contemporary sans serif lettering for the new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, currently in planning stages for a site on the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...
.
His carvings can be found in the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, the Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
, at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and the National World War II Memorial
National World War II Memorial
The U.S. National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II...
, in Washington, D.C.
Benson's work at The John Stevens Shop
The John Stevens Shop
The John Stevens Shop, founded in 1705, is a stone carving business in Newport, Rhode Island that is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in America.-History:John Stevens was born in Oxfordshire, England...
has also included personal gravestones and tomb markers. Benson's father, grandfather and his predecessors at the Shop have created individual gravestones on materials including grey slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
and Rhode Island granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.
Family
Benson lives in JamestownJamestown, Rhode Island
Jamestown is a town located in Newport County, Rhode Island, in the United States. The population was 5,405 at the 2010 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay.-History:...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, with his wife and two children.
External links
- The website of The Johns Stevens Shop
- An interview with Benson and Judith Dupre
- Dan Bellan (2009), Opening New Doors: The Concept of Unification (article about Nick Benson and The John Stevens Shop)