Landscapes by Frank Weston Benson are one of the types of art work made by Frank Weston Benson. He also made portraits, waterscapes, wildlife, interiors and other works of art.
In 1888 Benson married Ellen Perry Peirson. Together they had four children: Eleanor (born 1890), George (born 1891), Elisabeth (born 1892) and Sylvia (born 1898). The Benson family spent 7 summers starting in 1893 in Newcastle, New Hampshire. Starting 1901 the Benson family stayed at Wooster Farm on New Haven Island on Penobscot Bay in Maine and in 1906 they bought the property.Bedford, 263. Benson enjoyed creating idyllic paintings of his family out of doors at their summer home in New Haven, Maine. One daughter noted that "Papa would often have us put on our best white dresses and then ask us to sit in the grass or play in the woods. We thought it was so silly and the maids made such a fuss when they saw the clothes afterwards."Margaret ("Gretchen") Strong, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Just at the turn of the century, Benson made Impressionist paintings of his children, Eleanor, Elisabeth, George and Sylvia at their summer home on New Haven Island in Maine. His work was well received by critics and collectors and won awards. Benson, eager to paint his children on sunny days, often asked his daughters to don their best white dresses and sit in the grass or play in the woods.
Between 1890 and 1898 Benson produced many en plein air landscape and seascape paintings of New Hampshire, including the Mount Monadnock, New Castle and Portsmouth regions.Peabody Essex Museum, Interactive Presentation, Benson Timeline.
Works TitleImageMediumYearCollectionComments and SIRIS IDLandscape 1890–1898 Mount Monadnockoil on canvasc. 1890 24 in x 30 in (61 cm x 76.2 cm) Scene: Mount Monadnock, NH.Mount Monadnockoil on canvasc. 1890 16 in x 20 in (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm) Scene: Mount Monadnock, NH. SIRIS Control Number 89170057 View in Mexico near Santiago Online imageoil on canvas1898 5.5 in x 10 in (14 cm x 25.4 cm) Benson Family at Wooster Farm 1901Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison,Madison, WI24.9 in x 29.9 in (63.2 cm x 75.9 cm). Scene: artist's family at Wooster Farm, North Haven, ME.Evening Lightoil on canvas1908Cleveland Museum of Art,Cleveland, OH25.3 in x 30.5 in (64.3 cm x 77.5 cm) Benson's wife, Ellen, and four children walk across a meadow in the painting Evening Light. Eleanor waits on the left for her mother and other children to walk towards her. George has a fishing pole carried over his shoulder.Evening Light, SIRIS SIRIS Control Number 89170043The House at North Haven(or Wooster Farm)(or The Farm at North Haven)Online image 1912 30.5 in x 49 in (77.5 cm x 124.5 cm) Scene: white farmhouse nestled in trees in middle-ground with seascape in distance. SIRIS Control Number 89170067The High Carry etching/prints 1915Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,Boston, MA9.9 in x 7.9 in (25.1 cm x 20.1 cm). Scene: 3 figures traveling in mountainous landscape; one figure is porting canoe.The Hillside(or Reading in Sun and Shade)oil on canvas1921 25.1 in x 30.3 in (63.8 cm x 77 cm). Scene: landscape near coast with female figure reclining on grassy hillside, pink parasol held over her head as she reads; overhead are billowy clouds in clear blue sky; on left, glimpse of ocean. SIRIS Control Number 82190634River Sceneoil on canvas1921 Scene: river winds through countryside.Cedarswatercolor, brush and bluec. 1921Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA14.9 in x 21.6 in (37.8 cm x 54.9 cm)Through the Willows 1922 Iris and Lilieswatercolor on paper1922 14.1 in x 20.6 in (35.8 cm x 52.3 cm) Scene: close-up of still pond water with lily pads and irises. Ellen, Benson's wife, planted water lilies and iris in a pond behind their summer home, Wooster Farm on North Haven Island, Maine, which was a frequent subject in Benson's paintings.Peabody Essex Museum, Interactive Presentation, Gallery. SIRIS Control Number 8A730023Meadows in Winterwatercolor on paper1922Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA13.8 in x 19.7 in (35.1 cm x 50 cm) Scene: winter landscape with patches of tall grass poking through snow-covered meadow and small stream winding into distance. SIRIS Control Number 20493114 Through the Willowswatercolor over graphite on paper1922Art Institute of Chicago,Chicago, IL16.2 in x 20.2 in (41.1 cm x 51.3 cm)The BridgeOnline imagedrypoint etching on copper plate/print1923Cleveland Museum of Art,Cleveland, OH;Westmoreland Museum of American Art,Greensburg, PA;Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, California Palace of the Legion of Honor,San Francisco, CA;Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,Boston, MA13.6 in x 10.7 in (34.5 cm x 27.2 cm) Snowladen Spruce(or Snow-laden Spruce)Online imagewatercolor on paper1927 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA20.1 in x 25.1 in (51.1 cm x 63.8 cm) Scene: snowscape. SIRIS Control Number 89170040Wooster FarmOnline image watercolor on paper1927 15 in x 21.5 in (38.1 cm x 54.6 cm). Scene: close-up of front of house (artist's summer residence, North Haven, Maine) with bench's back facing viewer; trees at right. SIRIS Control Number 89170061Dublin WoodsOnline imageoil on canvas1931 20 in x 17.9 in (50.8 cm x 45.5 cm)Willow Trunks watercolor, brush and blue1933Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,Boston, MA20.1 in x 24.9 in (51.1 cm x 63.2 cm)Woman in White Gazing over a CliffsideOnline imageoil on canvas 17 in x 13 in (43.2 cm x 33 cm) Scene: small female figure in cliffside landscape.Amphitheater in the ParkOnline imagewatercolor on paper 6.3 in x 9 in (16 cm x 22.9 cm)Mountain Sleet drypoint etching/print 9.5 in x 11.7 in (24.1 cm x 29.7 cm)Six Blue Hills drypoint etching/print Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,Boston, MAYoung Girl Picking Flowers at SpringtimeOnline imageoil on board
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