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Benjamin West
1738-1820
Benjamin West Locations
Benjamin West RA (October 10, 1738 ?C March 11, 1820) was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence. He was the second president of the Royal Academy serving from 1792 to 1805 and 1806 to 1820.
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.
As painted by Gilbert Stuart, 1783-84West was a close friend of Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait he painted. Franklin was also the godfather of West's second son, Benjamin.
In 1763, West moved to England, where he was commissioned by King George III to create portraits of members of the royal family. The king himself was twice painted by him. He painted his most famous, and possibly most influential painting, The Death of General Wolfe, in 1770, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771. Although originally snubbed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the famous portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy, and others as over ambitious, the painting became one of the most frequently reproduced images of the period.
In 1772, King George appointed him historical painter to the court at an annual fee of £1,000. With Reynolds, West founded the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. He was the second president of the Royal Academy from 1792 to 1805. He was re-elected in 1806 and was president until his death in 1820. He was Surveyor of the King's Pictures from 1791 until his death. Many American artists studied under him in London, including Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull, and Thomas Sully. [3]
West is known for his large scale history paintings, which use expressive figures, colours and compositional schemes to help the spectator to identify with the scene represented. West called this "epic representation".
He died in London. Related Paintings of Benjamin West :. | Moses shown the Promised Land | Moses shown the Promised Land | Cicero Discovering the Tomb of Archimedes | Cleombrotus Ordered into Banishment by Leonidas II, King of Sparta | The Death of Chevalier Bayard (mk25) | Related Artists: Walter Granville SmithIllustrator and Painter
American
1870-1938
Henry GrittenAustralian Landscape artist
1818-1873
was an English/Australian artist. Gritten was the son of a London picture dealer, was born probably in 1817. He studied art and was on friendly terms with David Roberts and other leading artists of the period. He began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1835, and during the next 10 years 12 of his pictures were hung at its exhibitions. He was a more frequent exhibitor at the British Institution, and had 30 of his pictures hung there between 1836 and 1848. In the latter year he went to the United States and in about 1852 arrived in Australia. He went first to the Bendigo goldfields, but soon resumed painting in Victoria and Tasmania; there is a View of Hobart in 1857 by him at the National Library of Australia at Canberra. He was represented at the first exhibition of the Victorian Academy of Art held at Melbourne in 1870. He died suddenly at Melbourne leaving a widow and four children in poor circumstances. Gritten was quite a capable painter of his period who had a hard struggle in Australia. James HopeAmerican, born circa 1818-1892
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