Lot 168
  • 168

Frank W. Benson 1862-1951

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 USD
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Description

  • Frank W. Benson
  • Girl with Pink Bow
  • signed F.W. Benson and dated 1905, l.l.
  • oil on canvas
  • 30 by 25 in.
  • (76.2 by 63.5 cm)

Provenance

Craig and Tarlton, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
Acquired by the present owners from the above, 1978

Exhibited

Charlotte, North Carolina, Mint Museum of Art and traveling, American Paintings, The Landon Collection, September 1979-July 1981, no. 37
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reading Portraits through Buttons and Bows, February-June 2001
Charlottesville, Virginia, University of Virginia Art Museum, A Jeffersonian Ideal: Selections from the Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III Collection of American Fine and Decorative Arts, August-November 2005, p. 70, illustrated in color p. 69

Condition

Very good condition; unlined; under UV: fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

A leading figure in American art at the end of the nineteenth century, Frank W. Benson earned renown in his own lifetime as one of the principle artists of the Boston school, and as a member of the influential group of painters called "The Ten."  Despite the acclaim he received from his contemporaries, Benson led a largely private life, devoted to his family, his friends and his art. The artist's children served as his favorite models and Benson's paintings of his family are among his most successful achievements.

Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Benson received his earliest artistic training at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where his classmates included Willard Metcalf, Robert Reid and Edward Simmons. In the fall of 1883, Benson left Boston for Paris, where he spent three years studying art at the Académie Julian. The years following Benson's return to Boston were eventful ones for the young artist, punctuated by his marriage to Ellen Perry Peirson in October of 1888 and his appointment as an instructor at the Museum School in April 1889. His teaching career provided Benson with a steady income to support his growing family, but also left the artist plenty of time to paint; Benson's work of this period consisted primarily of formal portraits and landscapes painted during his summers spent with close friends Edmund Tarbell and Abbott Thayer in New Hampshire.

Benson's discovery of North Haven Island, off the coast of Maine, marked a turning point in both the artist's personal and professional development. On his first visit in 1900, Benson was enchanted by the brilliant sunlight that spilled over the island's open fields and the sweeping views of the sea and sky beyond. The Benson family returned to North Haven every summer thereafter, eventually purchasing Wooster Farm, a rambling Federal style farmhouse and barn set in the midst of grassy meadows and bordered on three sides by the sea. In North Haven, with the barn converted into a studio and the old house brimming over with the Benson's children and friends, Wooster Farm became an idyllic retreat for the artist. Free from competing influences, Benson's individual style finally emerged. Nearly everyday was spent outdoors, berry-picking, picnicking on the beach, fishing or sailing, affording the artist the opportunity to paint his favorite subjects – his children – en plein air.

Painted in 1905, Girl with Pink Bow depicts Benson's youngest daughter, Sylvia, at Wooster Farm. Flooded with the warmth of the summer sun, the light falls across her hair and body highlighting Benson's clever use of blues and pinks to create the varied tones of her white dress. The freshness of Sylvia's matching pink bow and sash suggest a vitality of youth, as if she has stopped to have her picture taken before she bounds off to engage in the next activity. Benson's Girl with Pink Bow exemplifies the artist's credo: "I simply follow the light, where it comes from, where it goes to" (Frank W. Benson: The Impressionist Years, 1988, p. 15).