NEOCLASSICISM · ARTIST

Benjamin West

1738–1820 · American-British · Neoclassicism
History painter
Benjamin West

A Pennsylvania Quaker who talked his way into the Roman art scene, then settled in London and became the second president of the Royal Academy. His 1770 painting of Wolfe dying at Quebec showed a contemporary battle in contemporary clothes rather than Roman togas, and it quietly cracked open what history painting was allowed to be.

Featured works
Featured in Neoclassicism.
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