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| Benjamin West Omnia Vincit Amor 1809 oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Benjamin West Nude Youth with Drapery early 19th century drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Benjamin West Victory of Waterloo 1815 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Benjamin West Victory of Waterloo c. 1815 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
The painter Benjamin West (1738-1820) made a sensation when he arrived in England and began to show his work in the 1760s. He was born in rural Pennsylvania, but the greater part of his life and all of his success took place in Europe. The works that made West so popular in his day – formal mythologies and history paintings – now look distinctly quaint. The drawings and loosely painted sketches, by contrast, retain their vigor and still reveal the original current of intensity that brought them into existence.
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| Benjamin West Figures in a Colonnade late 18th century oil on paper Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Benjamin West A Gathering late 18th century oil on paper Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Benjamin West Feast Scene with Angel late 18th century oil on paper Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Benjamin West Crowd with Angel late 18th century oil on paper Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Benjamin West Military Scene late 18th century oil on paper Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Benjamin West Achilles with the Armor of Thetis early 19th century drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Benjamin West Fright of Astyanax 1796 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Benjamin West Fright of Astyanax 1797 drawing Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Benjamin West Goddess bringing woman to man early 19th century drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Benjamin West Choice of Hercules between Virtue & Pleasure 1764 oil on canvas Victoria & Albert Museum, London |