Frank Weston Benson
American Impressionist of portraits and wildlife
Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolors and etchings. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the Library of Congress. Some of his best known paintings (Eleanor, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Summer, Rhode Island School of Design Museum) depict his daughters outdoors at Benson’s summer home, Wooster Farm, on the island of North Haven, Maine. He also produced numerous oil, wash and watercolor paintings and etchings of wildfowl and landscapes. In 1880, Benson began to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under both Otto Grundmann and Frederic Crowninshield. In 1883 he travelled to Paris to study at the Académie Julian. He enjoyed a distinguished career as an instructor and department head at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He was a founding member of the Ten American Painters, American Academy of Arts and Letters and The Guild of Boston Artists.
Relationship Network
Master student
- Francis Luis Mora Student
- George Hawley Hallowell Student
Artworks by this artist
- The Duck Marsh 1922-1926
- Firelight 1893
- Summer 1890
- Red-Heads Coming In 1922-1926
- Summer Day 1911
- Portrait of George R. Agassiz, professor of zoology at Harvard University, reading a book 1915
- The sisters 1899
- Sunlight 1909
- The Hill Top 1914
- Rising Mallard 1922-1926
- The Watcher 1921
- Monadnock circa 1890
- Portrait of a Child Sewing 1897