MAKERS OF AMERICAN ART
Benjamin West
TWO
The career of Benjamin West has often been cited as a triumphant demonstration of genius, which like lightning, strikes where it will and develops in the most uncongenial surroundings. He was born in 1738 at Springfield, a little Pennsylvania settlement, and in his childhood he knew the rigor of frontier life. He was the youngest child of a large family. When six years old, he began to draw with pen and ink, showing the first signs of an inclination to art. A year afterward a party of friendly Indians, amazed at the sketches of birds and flowers that the boy made, taught young West to prepare the red and yellow colors with which they painted their ornaments, Mrs. West furnished indigo; house cats furnished the fur to make brushes; and with these primitive materials the boy West produced some paintings that showed real worth. As a result a box of paints was sent to him from Philadelphia by a relative. His delight knew no bounds, and a few days later he set out to visit his relative in Philadelphia, a Mr. Pennington, who brought him in touch with the artist Williams. The boy’s interest and enthusiasm about art impressed Williams, who asked him if he had read any books. Finding that young West’s reading was limited to the Bible, the young artist lent him the works of Dufresnoy (Doo-frayn-wah) and Richardson on painting. These books gave the boy the idea of an artist’s career, and soon afterward his skill brought him his first money.
At the end of West’s Philadelphia studies the question of settling him in some profession came up, and as a result there was a solemn scene in the sober Quaker home of his parents, with discourses, prayers, and final dedication of the youth to art.
So launched, Benjamin West left home, and worked as a portrait painter first in Philadelphia and then in New York. In 1760, when he was twenty-two, he went to Italy for study, and remained there for three years. Then he settled in London, and success came to him rapidly. He was soon known as one of the leading portrait and historical painters of the time. In 1772 he was appointed court historical painter. He became one of the first members of the Royal Academy; and later he had conferred upon him the final crown of art distinction when, after the death of Joshua Reynolds, he was elected president of the academy.
Benjamin West in his old age was surrounded by a group of enthusiastic and talented young students. Washington Allston was a pupil of his, Copley too, and many other artists who afterward attained world wide fame. He died at London in 1820.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1. No. 45, SERIAL No. 45
COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
