Page images
PDF
EPUB

sparing, and belonging, as he did, to a party tenacious of power, had frequent occasions to indulge in the harshest comments; but in private life he was quiet, retiring, and amiable; he never forgot a kindness, and was an unalterable friend. In personal appearance he was remarkable, especially toward the close of his career, when, having lost an eye, a double intensity appeared to be imparted to the remaining one. He was short in stature; his hair of a remarkably handsome brown color, and as glossy and full at the time of his death as at any previous period. His head was of a very singular shape, being by no means high, if measured from the chin to the crown, but of unusual horizontal length from the forehead to the back of the head. His forehead projected at right angles from his face in a very remarkable manner. In his habits he was secluded and studious; not parsimonious, but economical, and disposed to lay one dollar on another.

[graphic][merged small]

BENJAMIN WEST, the earliest and most renowned of American painters, and an artist whose works command the attention of the world, was a native of Pennsylvania, and born in Chester County, near Springfield, in that state, on the 10th of October, 1738. His family were Quakers, and emigrated from England to America in 1699. Benjamin's father remained in England to be educated, and did not join his family until he had reached his fifteenth year.

At a very early age Benjamin gave evidence of art gifts. It is related that, in the month of June, 1745, when only seven years of age, he was left to take care of his little niece, who lay peacefully slumbering in a cradle by his side. The boy-artist sat watching her. Presently the baby smiled in its innocent sleep, and the supreme beauty of its arch tranquillity filled young Benjamin's breast with admiration. To give this expression, he seized a pen, and with red and black ink endeavored to transfer the beautiful picture to paper. When his mother returned she was surprised and delighted at the attempt, and, with the keen

eye of affection, detected a portrait of the sleeping infant. At this time it is said that West had never seen a picture or an engraving, and most assuredly had never beheld any one attempting to copy the lineaments of nature. The latter part of the anecdote is probably reliable, but the first allegation may well be questioned. Soon after this occurrence Benjamin was sent to school. Pen and ink still constituted the objects of his amusement, and we may suppose that his school-books presented a highly pictorial appearance. From the Indians he learned the use of the red and yellow colors with which they painted their belts and ornaments, but before this epoch in his artist career he depended on the most sombre effects. The colors he used were principally charcoal and chalk, mixed with the juice of berries. With these colors, laid on with the hair of a cat, drawn through a goose-quill, when about nine years of age he drew on a sheet of paper the portraits of a neighboring family, in which the delineation of each individual was sufficiently accurate to be immediately recognized by his father when the picture was first shown to him. When about twelve years of age he performed a more difficult task, and drew a portrait of himself, with his hair hanging loosely about his shoulders. The knowledge which he had gained from the Indians extended his field of operations, and when he had obtained possession of a bit of indigo, which he coaxed out of his mother, he had the three primary colors to work with.

The atmosphere of a Quaker house is not very congenial to the development of art, but West's parents appear to have been liberalminded, and worthily proud of their son. His little productions

adorned their dwelling, and attracted the attention of their visitors. In this way the father of General Wayne became acquainted with the talents of the lad. He was so much pleased with the rough sketches he saw around him, that he asked the privilege of taking some of them home. The next day he saw young West, and presented him with six dollars-a magnificent sum to his fervid imagination. It was to this early reward that he attributed his subsequent artist career. Mr. Wayne was not the only admirer that the youthful artist possessed. A Mr. Pennington, of Philadelphia, who was related to the West family, paid a visit one day, and was astonished to find the apartments of the Quaker hung with drawings of birds and flowers, executed with native but untutored genius. To encourage the youth, he pre

sented him with a box of colors and pencils. To these were added several pieces of canvas prepared for the easel, and six engravings by Greveling. Such a mine of treasure was beyond price to the young man. He could not sleep for thinking of it, and night and day nursed the gift with the most extreme fondness. Shortly after this he went on a visit to Philadelphia, and for the first time beheld the impressive spectacle of a noble stream teeming with magnificent shipping. It made a deep impression on his young imagination, and was the immediate cause of his first composition, a picturesque view of a river, with vessels floating on the surface, and cattle pasturing on its banks. Among the other wonders which he saw in the city was a picture by Williams, of Philadelphia, which astonished and delighted him. The perusal of the works of Fresnoy and Richardson did the rest. His future destiny was fixed in his own mind—he would become an artist.

Returning to Springfield with the reputation of a prodigy, he received many commissions to paint portraits, for which, as we have seen, he displayed great natural aptitude. A gunsmith of the name of William Henry, who was of a literary turn, suggested to him that he should engage himself on something more important than portraits, and gave him the subject of "Socrates' Death" as one worthy of illustration. West seized the idea, and produced his first historical picture. It attracted a good deal of attention, and led to the formation of many friendships which were afterward of great use to the young painter. Among these was that formed with Dr. Smith, provost of the college at Philadelphia, who was delighted to observe the efforts of the young artist, and offered to assist him in gaining an education, the want of which he now began to experience. The result led to Benjamin being transferred to the residence of his brother-in-law in Philadelphia.

At the age of sixteen, it was determined among the friends, after long deliberations, that Benjamin should be allowed to cultivate the art of painting. In Philadelphia he was able to pursue his studies with many advantages. He had free access to all the famous pictures of the city, and was, of course, hugely delighted and impressed with what he saw, especially with a Murillo in Governor Hamilton's collection. It was a St. Ignatius, and West copied it enthusiastically, before he even knew its author or appreciated its art value. His application at this time was so great that his health became impaired, and he was for a

She

time stretched on a bed of sickness. The room in which he lay was darkened, and the only light that entered was through the cracks in the window-shutters. An anecdote is related of this time which illustrates in a forcible manner his keen powers of reasoning and observation. As he was lying in bed, partly recovered from a fever, he was surprised to see "the form of a white cow enter at one side of the roof, and, walking over the bed, gradually vanish at the other. The phenomenon surprised him exceedingly, and he feared that his mind was impaired by his disease, which his sister also suspected, when, on entering to inquire how he felt himself, he related to her what he had seen. soon left the room, and informed her husband, who accompanied her back to the apartment; and as they were both standing near the bed, West repeated the story, exclaiming that he saw, at the very moment in which he was speaking, several little pigs running along the roof. This confirmed them in the apprehension of his delirium, and they sent for a physician; but his pulse was regular, the skin moist and cool, the thirst abated, and, indeed, every thing about the patient indicated convalescence. Still, the painter persisted in his story, and assured them that he then saw the figures of several of their mutual friends passing on the roof, over the bed, and that he even saw fowls picking, and the very stones of the street. All this seemed to them very extraordinary, for their eyes, not accustomed to the gloom of the chamber, could discover nothing; and the physician himself, in despite of the symptoms, began to suspect that the convalescent was really delirious. Prescribing, therefore, a composing mixture, he took his leave, requesting Mrs. Clarkson and her husband to come away and not disturb the patient. After they had retired the artist got up, determined to find out the cause of the strange apparitions which had so alarmed them all. In a short time he discovered a diagonal knot-hole in one of the window-shutters, and upon placing his hand over it, the visionary paintings on the roof disappeared. This confirmed him in an opinion that he began to form, that there must be some simple natural cause for what he had seen, and having thus ascertained the way in which it acted, he called his sister and her husband into the room, and explained it to them." He profited by this investigation; made a box with one of its sides perforated, and thus, without ever having heard of the invention, contrived a camera obscura.

R

« PreviousContinue »