Benjamin West | ritratto di Charles Willson Peale

Among the best representatives of the young artistic school of the new world we find Benjamin West. Originally from Pennsylvania, he trained in his homeland as a portrait artist. He then moved to Italy, where he specialized in the realization of paintings on a historical subject. His impeccable figurative culture and full stylistic control are also rewarded by public recognition and official commissions. In 1763 he settled in Great Britain, where he obtained great success and numerous official commissions. In 1772 he succeeded Joshua Reynolds as president of the Royal Academy of Arts. His influence in the development of painting in the United States was also remarkable. At his studio in London, in fact, numerous American artists were formed. For example, Gilbert Stuart collaborated on the drafting of the book by John Galt, The Life and Studies of Benjamin West. While Europe was moving towards neoclassicism and the second revision of the myths of the heroes of antiquity, the Americans put on stage a contemporary epic made up of characters that belong to the chronicle of the moment, to the facts of war for independence, to the difficult contact with the Indian populations. In this work is depicted Charles Wilson Paine, American writer and watchmaker, student of Benjamin West. In his life, before discovering painting, he was also a soldier and naturalist and carried out many other activities. Here, however, we clearly see him portrayed in the guise of a painter, with a lot of forced brushstrokes. The composition in his ensembles is very balanced, both in the almost photographic use of light and in contrasting primary colors, red for the background and green for the painter's jacket. The flexibility of West's style is suitable for gracefully framing the composition of the multiple subjects treated with penetrating realism, all in a mixture of references ranging from Van Dyck to Poussin, to Rubens to Salvatore Rosa. The epic story and the ideal expectations of academic art marry in West with the urgency of the chronological narration of the commitment to visualize the knowledge of historical events. Benjamin West is certainly to be put among the artists to rediscover and to know. If you liked the video, subscribe to the channel, leave a like and share it with your friends. I also invite you to visit my shop. Greetings and see you in the next video of Artesplorando!