Of all the artist that I love, I must say that Benson (1862- 1951) is one of my favorites. He is in good company- my favorite artists include Thomas Dewing, John William Waterhouse, and John Singer Sargent- all of which have their own separate rooms in the Galleria. Mention his name, and not very many people are familiar with it. Though he was well known and respected in his day, in modern times Benson has fallen into relative obscurity in the fifty years since his death.
-Portrait of My Daughters- 1907
His most recognizable work is Summer, featured below, depicting two of his daughters and two other friends. Benson's family provided much inspiration for his work and can be found as the subjects of many of his paintings. However, it was mainly his daughters Eleanor, Elizabeth, and Sylvia who posed for his paintings.
-Red and Gold- 1915
Frank Weston Benson was born in Salem, Massachusetts on March 24, 1862. By age sixteen, he revealed his wishes to his family that he would like to be an artist and later went on to attend the newly founded Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1880. For his twenty first birthday in 1883, he recieved a ticket to Paris and enrolled in the Academie Julian to end out his art training abroad, like many artist of his day had done.
Upon his return from Europe, Benson married childhood friend Ellie Pierson in 1888. A portrait of her in her wedding dress is shown below and was completed a year after their marriage.
-Portrait in White- 1889
-Summer- 1909
-The Sisters- 1889
-Still Life of Flowers- date unknown
-Still Life of Flowers- date unknown
Next Room
My thanks to Faith Andrews Bedford who published a great book on Frank Benson, titled aptly "Frank W. Benson- American Impressionist". It provided me and still does so with a great amount of information on the life of this great artist.