Benjamin West Paintings by Daniel Coenn

Description

Carry a whole gallery of masterpieces in your pocket. Benjamin West Paintings by Daniel Coenn — part of the My Pocket Gallery series — is a curated digital collection of the works of Benjamin West (1738–1820), the Anglo-American painter often called the father of American painting. West's grand historical scenes changed art history: his Death of General Wolfe shocked London by dressing a heroic subject in contemporary uniform instead of classical drapery, and as the second president of London's Royal Academy he taught a generation of American painters, from Gilbert Stuart to Charles Willson Peale. Here you will find his celebrated historical canvases, portraits, and religious works gathered in one portable volume.

What this collection reveals is a hinge figure in art history. West was born in colonial Pennsylvania, taught himself to paint, and rose to the top of the London art world — and his influence flowed back across the Atlantic through his students, who carried his teaching home and founded American painting on it. Looking through his historical scenes, you can see the moment history painting stopped dressing the present in togas and started painting it as it actually looked — the decision in The Death of General Wolfe that made the picture famous and controversial. His portraits and religious works show the same ambition on a more intimate scale: a painter who believed art should instruct as well as impress.

Perfect for art lovers, students, and anyone who wants to explore the roots of American painting, this pocket gallery brings West's dramatic, luminous world to your screen — a museum visit you can take anywhere. An affordable, inspiring way to study one of history's great masters up close. Pick up the ebook at a discount from Tellebook.

West's influence ran through his students. Gilbert Stuart, who painted the Washington portrait Americans know best, and Charles Willson Peale, who founded one of America's first museums, both learned from him — so studying West is also studying the roots of how America pictured itself.

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