Benjamin West, P.R.A.
Carthorses with a cart laden with hay
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Benjamin West, P.R.A.
(Springfield [now Swarthmore] 1738 - 1820 London)
Carthorses with a cart laden with hay
Pencil and point of the brush and brown wash;
signed with initials and dated in pencil, lower right: B.W. / Aug: 1795
335 by 440 mm; 13 by 18 in.
Private Collection, United Kingdom;
with Daniel Katz Ltd., London,
where acquired by Diane A. Nixon
West was born in Pennsylvania and before moving to England in 1763, he spent three years studying in Rome. Upon his arrival in London he soon gained a strong reputation and his position at the apex of his profession was solidified in 1792 when he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as President of the Royal Academy.
Best known as a ‘history painter’, West was interested in the natural world and drawings of animals, landscapes and the people who lived in the countryside survive, albeit in small numbers.1
1.See, for example: The Morgan Library, New York: Sketch of a Bull (acc. no. 1970.11.35), Harvesters near Windsor Castle (acc. no. 1970.11. 201) and Gnarled Tree Trunks (acc. no. 1970.11.2)
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