Frank W. Benson: American Impressionist [Hardcover]

Faith Andrews Bedford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2002

Frank Benson's masterpiece paintings of turn-of-the-century American society, New England's ports and country, and wildlife and sporting subjects, are among the most popular American works of art. His sparkling plein air painting of young women in white dresses are widely reproduced and his etchings and sporting paintings are generally considered to be some of America's best.

This first full-scale monograph on Benson's entire career, summarizes his progress from his early promise as a young art student at the Academie Julian in Paris to his leading role as a teacher, portraitist, and painter in Boston and New England. Benson is particularly acclaimed for his splendid outdoor, sun-dappled portraits of members of his family, often in settings on the Maine coastline, as well as for his later, archetypal works of wildfowl, fishing, and hunting.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though Frank Benson (1862-1951) is less well known than Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt and other American Impressionists, his art remains vibrant and this beautifully illustrated biographical study showcases his finest work. Bedford, the artist's great-granddaughter, sensitively probes her ancestor's Yankee roots in Salem, Mass., his formative Paris years in his early 20s and his daring break from the reigning art establishment along with Hassam, John Twachtman and other members of The Ten in 1898. Benson's evanescent, demure women glimpsed by firelight or outdoors and his radiant landscapes and seacoasts project an idealized way of life, yet his best pictures touch our deepest emotions and longing for a sane world. His later watercolors are remarkable for their bold experimental effects, and ravishing homages to nature like American Egrets (1940) today look like pleas for ecological responsibility.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Frank Benson was a key figure in the school of Boston artists that arose in the late 19th century and a founding member of the Impressionist-influenced group dubbed "The Ten." His primary subject matter, the fashionable world of society, avoided the dark side of the demimonde favored by his New York and Parisian contemporaries and therefore fell out of favor with critics in the latter part of this century. Bedford, a descendant of Benson, has compiled a complete and readable life of his forebear. In detailing his personal life, professional struggles as director of the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, and development as a painter from his early days in Paris through his last experiments in etching in the 1940s, Bedford places Benson in his rightful place in the pantheon of American Impressionists. Lavishly illustrated with examples of Benson's work from all periods of his career, this is highly recommended for all art collections.
Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Institute Lib. N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (August 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847816095
• ISBN-13: 978-0847816095
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Impressionism
  • #50 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Post-Impressionism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamite art book; also a great read!, March 5, 1998

By 

William D. Carr (Ballston Lake, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frank W. Benson: American Impressionist (Hardcover)

I had thought that Benson was strictly a painter of Victorian era young ladies in seaside settings. This bio (by a descendent) fleshes out his various careers as a painter of oils, a teacher, a water colorist and whatever is the correct term for one who creates etchings. Also provides a good overview of the American art scene (especially "The Ten") during the transition from the 19th to the 20th century.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sane Book in an Insane World, February 1, 2011

By 

Steve Henderson "stevehendersonfineart.com" (Dayton, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frank W. Benson: American Impressionist (Hardcover)

After purchasing and reading Ms. Bedford's companion book, The Sporting Art of Frank W. Benson, I followed Frank W. Benson: American Impressionist for years like a blood hound until a copy finally became available. It was worth the wait.

The book's large format and quality reproductions do justice to Benson's loose brushwork, sun drenched atmosphere and subjects - which include his family and friends involved in the more meditative activities of life. Ms Bedford's love and passion for Benson's work is evident in her writing style which retains a very human voice and gives very human details of Benson's life.

Benson was one of those rare artists who proved that one could be passionate about art and passionate about family; that an artist didn't have to starve or have some personal dark psychology, or empty spirituality, or insane tendencies to succeed in a time when art was being turned on its head. Benson seemed to be a very genuine person with a very genuine art that breathes with simple authenticity and wholesomeness. No wonder he was also popular as a teacher.

This is a purchase that feels more like an investment. Enjoy.

Steve Henderson, stevehendersonfineart.com