Term Paper on "Benjamin West"

Term Paper 6 pages (1647 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Benjamin West

Portrait of Benjamin West

The Death of General Wolfe

Touch of Bright

Death on a Pale Horse

Who Immortalized Whom?

Personal Reflections

Present Treasures

Benjamin West

Portrait of Benjamin West

"Art is not a treasure in the past or an importation from another land, but part of the present life of all living and creating peoples."

"Good job, Benjamin." Although it is not recorded that Benjamin West's mother or father verbalized these words to him, it is likely they or some similar encouraging expressions were spoken to him at the age of eight, after he copied figures from six Grevling engraved prints he had received, and recombined them to create new pictures. In time, West, born the son of an innkeeper on October 10, 1738 in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania, became President of the Royal Academy in London and a leader in forming European and American taste from 1766, until he died in 1820. (Grose 3)

The inn West's father oversaw continues to stand on the Swarthmore College campus. In the Quaker community where West grew up, paintings were rare. As he and his painting ability grew and matured, West continued to paint as he had first begun, in the eclectic way. During a trip to Philadelphia at the age of nine, West received his first real instructions from William Williams, a peripatetic English artist. Along with helping West learn techniques and traits about handling paint, Williams also loaned him two treatises on art and launched West's understanding of European academic theories of art. As no local school existed, and only a few local artists in his area, such as James Claypoole, a Philadelphia painter, West received little formal art training when growing up. West's initial paintings, primarily portraits, reflected his study of pictures accessible in Philadelphia, which were likely.".. portraits by Gustavus Hessehus (1682-1755), Robert Feke (ca. 1705-ca. 1750), John Hesselius (1728-78), and John Wollaston (active 1749-67)." West's most powerful impression, however, was Wollaston, an Englishman active in the southern states and Pennsylvania between 1758 and 1767, Gottfried Kneller's tough manner (1646-1723). From 1756 to 1760, West is assumed to have been active in Philadelphia. Later, he spent time in New York City, where he painted portraits to earn money to travel to Italy. West determined that a visit to Italy had to be made if he were to become a "history painter." According to Elizabeth, West's wife, in conversations with Joseph Farington, a diarist:

"..in the 40 years she had been married to Mr. West she had never but once seen him intoxicated: & never seen him in a passion. -- She said that He was so devoted to drawing while a child, and a youth, that every other part of education was neglected."

II. The Death of General Wolfe

Touch of Bright

The Death of General Wolfe

The Death of General Wolfe, an oil painted on canvas in 1770 by West, depicts James Wolfe's final moments during the 1759 Battle of Quebec, of the Neoclassical era. General Wolfe is reported to be portrayed West as a Christ-like figure in a triangular composition. ("The Death of General Wolfe") Benjamin West's prominence increased with his painting, the Death of General Wolfe, which portrayed the last moments of Wolfe, an English hero, on September 13, 1759. This visual symbol of the conquest of Canada during the triumph over the French at Quebec won West a massive amount of fame. In fact, James Northcote (1746-1831), who did not admire West, reportedly noted that anytime anyone spent five minutes with West, they would hear about his Wolfe. As West did not adhere to stringent prescriptions in color choices, some observers are taken aback that "The Death of General Wolfe" includes bright colors. The vivid hues' deep character, nevertheless, reconcile with this painting's tragic theme, while the "painterly sky" echoes the turbulence and tragedy occurring on the battlefield.

Religious connections are embellished as the flag, with the arms of the men on the left stretched out, making a cross, reflecting "La Pieta,' a painting presenting the Christ being struck down. ("The Death of General Wolfe")

Even before it was displayed at the Royal Academy in London in 1771, West received praise for the Death of General Wolfe. To commemorate this accomplishment, he painted a.".. self-portrait with a sketching board on which was a design for the right-hand side of his famous composition. "West considered his painting of Wolfe a 'revolution in art' and credited himself with inaugurating a contemporary form of classicism in which the protagonists in a modern historical event were clad in modern dress."

Today, one of the four known portraits of the Death of General Wolfe is in the National Gallery of Canada. Another is at the Clements Library at the University of Michigan. ("The Death of General Wolfe")

Death on the Pale Horse

("Benjamin West")

In Death on the Pale Horse, partly based on Revelations' sources, the figure of Death strikes down a family. Evans reports that West's most "dread' picture, the final version of 'Death on the Pale Horse,'" was completed when the majority of his paintings were "pathetic."

The Bible, a familiar preferred source for West's paintings, inspired stories that ranged from tense and awe inspiring to tender religious feelings. West's 1817 version of "Death on the Pale Horse" portrayed the theme of the horrible transcendent, was deemed terrifying by some observers and critics, yet depicting a powerful source of the sublime by others. During the war of 1812-14 between Britain and the United States, as West resided in London, he was repeatedly questioned about his loyalty. As it was touted that West was neither an Englishman nor a British subject, he expressed his exasperation in a short biography published in 1813, accompanied by.".. An engraved portrait of West by H. Meyer after Thomas Lawrence's painting of 1811."

Evans reports that during the final fifteen years of his painting, West reportedly developed a painting style, best described as "pathetic," as he purposely provoked a mirage of strong motions in viewers' minds, specifically tender and noble feelings. The eighteenth-century meaning of the term, Pathetic, was linked with the Sublime, and illustrate what strongly stimulated emotions. (Evans) in Roman portraiture, the pathetic style, related with the middle third century's soldier emperors reportedly stems from pathos, a Greek word which means emotion. Even though the Dread Manner had also stimulated strong feelings or emotions, the limited aroused emotions were terror and astonishment. In 1836, the Academy, just emerging then from financial straits, mortgaged its building to purchase Death on a Pale Horse for $7,000. "Nearly a decade later, a fire gutted the Academy and much of its collection. Pale Horse was saved by volunteer firemen, who cut the canvas out of its burnt stretcher." ("Editorial | Academy... " 2005)

Who Immortalized Whom?

Although West believed he had immortalized Wolfe, some like Notrhcote, believed it to be the opposite that Wolfe secured West's fame for him. West, on the other hand, strongly believed he had immortalized Wolfe, not that Wolfe had immortalized him." West's painting of Wolfe, however, contributed to England's cult of heroic virtue, centering on great national figures' deaths, instead of the lives and deaths of pagan philosophers.

Personal Reflections

Although as a Korean, this writer cannot directly relate to the historical implications of the two West paintings selected for this paper, in a sense however, and although they directly depict death, they also reflect themes in/of life. An observer may also be reminded that there are some things in life that have to be fought for, individually and also as a nation. Like the Indian in the Death of General Wolfe who represents the New World.".. sits and contemplates mortality', the painting urges this observer to do the same, while at the same time make the most… READ MORE

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