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 :. | The Death of Wolfe | Self-Portrait | Colonel Guy Johnson | The Death of General Wolfe | Mercury and Argus |
Related Artists:
Otto Hennig
Germany (1826 -1899 ) - Painter
Philip Hermogenes Calderon
English genre, portraits, domestic and historical scenes Painter, 1833-1898 English painter of Spanish and French descent. His father, at one time a Roman Catholic priest, was Professor of Spanish Literature at King's College, London. Calderon studied at James M. Leigh's school in London in 1850, then in Paris at the studio of Fran?ois-Edouard Picot. He lived near by in Montmartre, sharing a room with fellow art student Henry Stacy Marks. He exhibited his first Royal Academy painting, By the Waters of Babylon (London, Tate), in 1853 and thereafter became a regular exhibitor until 1897. He first made his name with Broken Vows (London, Tate), exhibited in 1857. The painting shows a woman overhearing through a garden fence her lover betraying her and was painted in the detailed, clean-cut style associated with the Pre-Raphaelites.
Memmo di Filippuccio
1433 - 1494