The Landing
Artist
Frank Weston Benson
(American, 1862-1951)
CultureAmerican
Date1904
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 36 7/8 x 41 7/8 in. (93.7 x 106.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 36 7/8 x 41 7/8 in. (93.7 x 106.4 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower left: F.W. Benson 1904;
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.618
Not on view
DescriptionOil on canvas painting depicting a marine scene. From the right side, center, a dock stretches across to the center of the canvas; two young girls stand near the water's edge on the landing. A sailboat without the sails and several row boats float near the dock; in the far background a boat with full sails passes in front of a rocky landscape.Label TextFrank Benson American (1862-1951) The Landing, 1904 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.618 Frank Benson's vibrant, light-soaked scenes from his family's vacations on the coast of Maine are among the best-loved works by members of The Ten American Painters, an elite group of native artists who studied in Paris and returned to promote a distinctly American version of Impressionism. The Landing, with its complex, asymmetrical design and remarkably free, form-dissolving brush technique, is one of Benson's most imaginative compositions. The painting depicts the choppy waters of Penobscot Bay on a breezy summer day; the two girls poised on the floating platform at the end of the dock are probably the artist's daughters, Elisabeth and Sylvia. According to one reviewer, Benson's paintings evoked "a holiday world in which nothing ugly or harsh enters, but all the elements combine to produce an impression of the natural joy of living." The Landing was sold to Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., as Annisquam Yacht Club. Recent research has uncovered the painting's original title, actual setting, and exhibition history. It was singled out for special praise when The Ten celebrated their tenth anniversary with a 1908 exhibition in Philadelphia. ProvenanceThe artist; O. E. Williams, by 1908; descended in the family to Mrs. Oliver D. Williams, Boston, Mass., who sold the painting through Vose Gallery c. 1954; to Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 1958. Exhibition History"St. Botolph Club," Boston, Mass., 1904 (exhibited as "The Landing"). "Exhibition of Paintings by Ten American Painters," Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pa., April 11 - May 3, 1908. (Exh. cat. no. 7, as The Landing). "The Controversial Century, 1850-1950, Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Provincetown, Mass., June 16 - Sept. 3, 1962; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Sept. 28 - Nov. 4, 1962. (Exh. cat. not paged). "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "By Popular Demand: Your Selections, Your Gallery," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, May 10 - August 31, 2014.Published References_Exhibition of The Ten_, exh. cat., Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pa., 1908, no. 7. "News of Art and Artists," _Philadelphia Inquirer_ (April 12, 1908): 7A, columns 1-3. Charles F. Comfort and William S.A. Dale, _The Controversial Century: 1850-1950_, exh. cat., Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Provincetown, Ma., 1962, not paged (as Annisquam Yacht Club). Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 150 (as Annisquam Yacht Club). William H. Gerdts, et al., _Ten American Painters_, exh. cat., Spanierman Gallery, New York, N.Y., 1990, 178. Catalog Raisonné, Vose Galleries, Boston, Mass., 2004. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 136-137, no. 85. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
