Portrait of Benjamin West
copy after Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769–1830)
1818 or later
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Framed: 102 x 88.5 x 11 cm (40 3/16 x 34 13/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 76.2 x 63.5 cm (30 x 25 in.)
- Culture
- England, 18th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This bust-length portrait of the prominent American artist, Benjamin West, was allegedly painted by Thomas Lawrence. Although its attribution remains uncertain, the portrait's style and execution recalls other portraits of West by Lawrence, including the full-length painting now in the National Gallery, London. This smaller version may have been created when West was at an advanced age, and no longer able to stand for extended periods of time. However, as an exact, yet more freely painted likeness of the London portrait, this version also may be a copy made by Lawrence or one of his pupils after the full-length version.
