Portrait of Benjamin West is a 1785 portrait painting by the American artist Gilbert Stuart of the noted Anglo-American painter Benjamin West. West, a future President of the Royal Academy settled in Britain during the 1760s. His epic 1770 battle painting The Death of General Wolfe established him as a leading artist.[1]
| Portrait of Benjamin West | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Gilbert Stuart |
| Year | 1785 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Location | National Portrait Gallery, London |
West is shown seated in front of a dark green curtain. His hand rests on books including Tobias Smollett's book History of England. In the background is West's as yet unfished religious painting Moses Receiving the Law.[2] It was originally commissioned by John Boydell who ran the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery. It is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London having been acquired in 1872.[3]
See also
edit- Portrait of Benjamin West, an 1810 portrait of the artist by Thomas Lawrence
References
editBibliography
edit- Barratt, Carrie Rebora & Miles, Ellen G. Gilbert Stuart. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.
- Ingamells, John. National Portrait Gallery Mid-Georgian Portraits, 1760–1790. National Portrait Gallery, 2004.
- Staiti, Paul. Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution through Painters' Eyes. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2016.