Benjamin West (1738 - 1820)

Benjamin West (1738–1820) was an Anglo-American painter of historical, religious, and mythological subjects around and after the time of the American War of Independence. West was a close friend of Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait he painted. He had a profound influence on the development of historical painting in Britain, being one of the first American artists to win a wide reputation in Europe

West was born October 10, 1738, in Springfield (now Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, in a house that is now on the campus of Swarthmore College. He was the tenth child of a Quaker innkeeper. The family later moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where his father was the proprietor of the Square Tavern.

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Benjamin West Paintings

Calypso's Reception of Telemachus and Mentor Christ Showing A Little Child As The Emblem Of Heaven Edward III Crossing the Somme Helen Brought From Paris Mr. John Williams Narcissus and Echo Portrait of Ann Barbara Hill Medlycott Portrait of Colonel Guy Johnson Portrait of Raphael West and Benjamin West Jr Self-Portrait The Death of General Wolfe The Treaty of Penn with the Indians
See the list of all paintings (12)