Benjamin West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He is one of the first internationally renowned American artists. In his American homeland he initially painted mainly portraits. When his patron William Allen financed a trip to Italy for him, he was able to visit Rome in 1760 and copied paintings of Tizian and Raffael. In 1763 he settled in London, where he became a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts. After the death of the first president, he presided over the Academy until the end of his life.
West is one of the earliest painters of classicist history paintings. When his painting "The Death of General James Wolfe in Quebec" was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771, it caused a sensation and an unprecedented influx of visitors. Soon copies of the painting were sold in large numbers in the form of engravings. Instead of antiquating the 1759 scene depicted by means of vestments and poses, as contemporaries advised him, West transposed the historical circumstances into his painting in an accurately documented manner. He called this technique, which he also continued in "Death of Nelson" and "William Penn's Treaty with the Indians in November 1683", an "epic representation".
West was commissioned with portraits of the British royal family, received an annual salary of £1000 as the official history painter of the royal house and managed the royal collection of paintings until his death in 1820.
×
Passionate Customer Service
.jpg "The Apotheosis of Nelson, 1807 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet, 1804 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Edward III Crossing The Somme by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Death of Nelson, 1806 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cupid and Psyche, 1808 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Lot Fleeing from Sodom, 1810 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cleombrotus Ordered into Banishment by Leonidas II, King of Sparta by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-1602).jpg "Alexander III of Scotland Rescued from the Fury of a Stag by the Intrepidity of Colin Fitzgerald (The Death of the Stag) by Benjamin West")
 - (MeisterDrucke-1602).jpg)
.jpg "The death of Lord Nelson in the cockpit of the ship")
.jpg)
.jpg "Pylades and Orestes Brought as Victims before Iphigenia by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Mrs Benjamin West II with her son Benjamin West III by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Gentlemen Fishing by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Two Officers and a Groom in a Landscape by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Self-Portrait by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cymon and Iphigenia by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Death of General Wolfe, 1759, from")
.jpg)
_1759_engraved_by_Augustin_Legrand_(engravin_-_(MeisterDrucke-37862).jpg "The Death of General Wolfe, engraved by Augustin Legrand by Benjamin West")
_1759_engraved_by_Augustin_Legrand_(engravin_-_(MeisterDrucke-37862).jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of La Hogue by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of La Hogue, Destruction of the French Fleet, May 22, 1692, from `Illustrations of English and Scottish History")
.jpg)
.jpg "Erasistratus the Physician Discovers the Love of Antiochus for Stratonice by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of La Hogue by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
_c1761_(oil_on_ca_-_(MeisterDrucke-1520132).jpg "A Sibyl with a Book, after a Painting by Raphael Mengs, c.1761 by Benjamin West")
_c1761_(oil_on_ca_-_(MeisterDrucke-1520132).jpg)
.jpg "The Death of Chatham by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Mrs. Benjamin West II with her son Benjamin West III by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Queen Philippa Interceding for the Lives of the Burghers of Calais by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
_The_Honourable_Robert_Monckton_(1726-17_-_(MeisterDrucke-391515).jpg "Major-General (later Lieutenant-General) The Honourable Robert Monckton (1726-1782), at the Taking of Martinique, 1762, c.1763-64 by Benjamin West")
_The_Honourable_Robert_Monckton_(1726-17_-_(MeisterDrucke-391515).jpg)
.jpg "The Artist and His Son Raphael by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Marcus Antonius by John Murphy")
.jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-1606).jpg "Hamlet - Act IV, Scene V (Ophelia Before the King and Queen) by Benjamin West")
 - (MeisterDrucke-1606).jpg)
.jpg "Shah")
.jpg)
.jpg "John Eardley Wilmot by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Portrait of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Her Daughter Charlotte by Valentine Green")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Death of Procris (retouched) by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Bathing Place at Ramsgate by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Study of the Lamentation on the Dead Christ by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of La Hogue, c.1778 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Queen Charlotte by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Death of Procris (retouched) by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cupid, Stung by a Bee, Is Cherished by His Mother by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-663177).jpg "Fidelia and Speranza (Faith and Hope) by Benjamin West")
 - (MeisterDrucke-663177).jpg)
.jpg "The Death of Nelson by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Isaac")
.jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1356659).jpg "The Battle at La Hogue, 1692 by William Woollett")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1356659).jpg)
.jpg "Elizabeth, Countess of Effingham by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Woodcutters in Windsor Park by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Portrait of a Man, 1790-99 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Milkmaids in St. James")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Death of General Wolfe, (detail) by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
 and George William Drummond 1776 - (MeisterDrucke-68477).jpg "Portrait Group of the Drummond Family, Peter Auriol Drummond, Mary Bridget Milnes Drummond, and George William Drummond by Benjamin West")
 and George William Drummond 1776 - (MeisterDrucke-68477).jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of the Boyne, pub. 1865 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-61408).jpg "Mrs. Fall by Benjamin West")
 - (MeisterDrucke-61408).jpg)
.jpg "Jupiter and Semele by Thomas Cook")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Artist")
.jpg)
.jpg "Portrait of George IV and Frederick of York as Children by Valentine Green")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Artist and His Son Raphael, c.1773 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "King William III During the Battle of the Boyne, 1690 by John Hall")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Return of the Prodigal Son by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cross Section of a Gothic Church by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Angel of the Resurrection, from the first issue of Specimens of Polyautography by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-902108).jpg "The Incredulity of St. Thomas by Benjamin West")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-902108).jpg)
 published 1817 (hand-coloured engraving) - (MeisterDrucke-73743).jpg "The Battle of New Orleans and the Death of Major General Packenham, 8th January 1815, engraved by Joseph Yeager, published 1817 by Benjamin West")
 published 1817 (hand-coloured engraving) - (MeisterDrucke-73743).jpg)
.jpg "Musidora and Her Two Companions, Sacharissa and Amoret, at Their Bath Espied by Damon by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cupid, Stung by a Bee, is Cherished by His Mother by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Pharaoh and His Host Lost in the Red Sea by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Ascension by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of La Hogue by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Portrait of Artist Benjamin West with His Son Raphael by Valentine Green")
.jpg)
.jpg "Pyrrhus as a Child Brought to King Glaucias for Protection by John Hall")
.jpg)
 on 13th September 1759 c1770 (oil on copper panel) - (MeisterDrucke-172070).jpg "The Death of General Wolfe on 13th September 1759, c.1770 by Benjamin West")
 on 13th September 1759 c1770 (oil on copper panel) - (MeisterDrucke-172070).jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-101556).jpg "The Fishing Party - a Party of Gentlemen Fishing from a Punt, 1794 by Benjamin West")
 - (MeisterDrucke-101556).jpg)
.jpg "The Death of General Wolfe, September 13th, 1759, illustration from")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Conversion of St. Paul by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Moses Shown the Promised Land by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Dr. John Morgan of Philadelphia by Angelica Kauffmann")
.jpg)
.jpg "Venus at Her Birth Attired by the Three Graces by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Elizabeth Shewell West and Her Son, Raphael by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
_c17_-_(MeisterDrucke-667111).jpg "Design for the ceiling decoration of the Royal Chapel, Windsor Castle by Benjamin West")
_c17_-_(MeisterDrucke-667111).jpg)
.jpg "King George III by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Sketch Identifying the Characters Appearing in")
.jpg)
.jpg "William Penn")
.jpg)
.jpg "Saul Before Samuel and the Prophets, 1812 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1482834).jpg "Arethusa by Benjamin West")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1482834).jpg)
.jpg "Mrs. West and Child by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
_and_Her_Son_Raphael_-_(MeisterDrucke-1432390).jpg "The Artist")
_and_Her_Son_Raphael_-_(MeisterDrucke-1432390).jpg)
.jpg "Sir Joseph Banks, 1773, Botanist by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "West Family in the Studio Garden, 1808-1809 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Thetis Bringing the Armor to Achilles, 1804 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cicero Discovering the Tomb of Archimedes by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Unknown Image by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Venus Relating to Adonis the Story of Hippomenes and Atalanta by John Hall")
.jpg)
.jpg "Calypso")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Battle of La Hogue, c1781 by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Elizabeth, Countess of Effingham by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Project for a Monument,")
.jpg)
.jpg "Miss Elizabeth Milward by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
.jpg "Christ at Emmaus by Benjamin West")
.jpg)
+43 4257 29415
support@meisterdrucke.com
Mo-Do: 7:00 - 16:00 | Fr: 7:00 - 13:00
