Benjamin’s grandfather came to America with William Penn, the two being intimate friends. Later the West family moved to the small town of Springfield, Pennsylvania, where, in 1738, the grandson Benjamin was born, growing up under the stern observances of an early Quaker home. His father kept a small store, but the family was a large one and many hardships had to be endured in those early days.
At the age of seven Benjamin began to attend the village school. You will remember that the Indians remained very friendly after their treaty with William Penn, and that in those days they often came to visit and trade with the settlers. The boys in this little school always looked forward to these visits, as they liked to talk with the Indians in sign language and to trade with them for bows and arrows and other curious things the Indians made.
They came one day when Benjamin had been drawing some birds and flowers on his slate. When shown the sketches they grunted their approval and the next time they came the big chief brought Benjamin some red and yellow paint, the kind they used to decorate their bodies.
How delighted Benjamin was as he ran home with his colors; but what could he do without blue? Then his mother remembered the bluing she used for her clothes, and gave him a piece of indigo. Now he must have a brush. You have probably heard of how he cut the fur from the tip of the cat’s tail, and so made a very good brush, although it did not last long. This made it necessary for him to cut so much fur that the cat became a sorry sight indeed. Benjamin’s father thought it must have some disease and was about to chloroform it, when his son told him the true state of affairs.
Not long afterwards an uncle who was a merchant in Philadelphia sent Benjamin a complete painter’s outfit,—paints, brushes, canvas, and all. It is said that the day these came Benjamin suddenly disappeared from sight and could not be found either at school, where he should have been, or in any of his favorite haunts.
At last his mother thought of the attic, and there she found him so busily absorbed in painting his picture that at first he did not hear her. She had intended to punish him, but, seeing his pictures, she forgot all else as she said, “Oh, thou wonderful child!”
When the uncle came to visit them he was so delighted he took Benjamin back with him to Philadelphia, where he could have good instruction in drawing. At eighteen he began to paint portraits. Then, after living in New York several years, he traveled extensively in Europe, finally settling in London, where he remained the rest of his life.
He became court painter for King George III, and succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as president of the Royal Academy, holding this position until his death.
Benjamin West caused one complete change in the art of England. Until his time all art had followed the Greek ideas, the artists using the Greek costumes for figures of men of all periods. West believed we should paint people just as they are, so he dressed his people in the costumes of the day. At first, of course, he was criticized severely, but soon all the artists were following his example. Benjamin West became the founder of a school of his own, to which young artists from both America and England went for help and encouragement. Although he spent the last years of his life in England, Benjamin West always remained a patriotic American.
The first few painters of note who followed Benjamin West were greatly influenced by him. The list of prominent American artists is constantly increasing. J. Walker McSpadden, in his book called Famous Painters of America, has classified a few of the most prominent in a way that may help us remember them: