Mary, Wife of Henry Thompson of Kirby Hall, as Rachel at the Well
Artist
Benjamin West
(American, 1738-1820)
CultureAmerican
Date1775
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions50 1/4 x 40 1/2 in. (127.6 x 102.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 1/8 x 49 3/4 in. (152.7 x 126.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 1/8 x 49 3/4 in. (152.7 x 126.4 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: B. West. 1775.
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.720
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 208
Label TextBenjamin West American, 1738–1820 Mary, Wife of Henry Thompson of Kirby Hall, as Rachel at the Well, 1775 Oil on canvas In this theatrical blend of portraiture and history painting, Benjamin West presents his sitter, English aristocrat Mary Thompson, within a biblical scene from the book of Genesis. Such portraits in costume bespeak both the sophistication of the client and the cosmopolitan training of the artist. Born in Pennsylvania, West studied in Italy and eventually settled in London, where his talent in figure painting helped him become President of the Royal Academy and the official court painter to King George III. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.720 ProvenanceLalonde Brothers and Parham, Bristol, England [label];...; sold anonymously (property of a lady), Sotheby's, London, 22 Nov. 1961, lot 87; to R. C. Graham; Graham Galleries, New York, N.Y., by 1962; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 1967; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Benjamin West," Graham Gallery, New York, N.Y., May 22 - June 30, 1962. (Exh. cat. no. 12) "Art Treasures Exhibition," National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America, Parke-Bernet, New York, N.Y., May 24 - June 7, 1967. (Exh. cat. no. 247) "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. (Exh. cat. p. 93) "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. "Classical Traditions at the Moses Myers House," Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA, April 17 - December 1, 2013.Published ReferencesHelmut von Erffa, _Benjamin West 1738-1820_, exh. cat., Graham Gallery, New York, N.Y., 1962, n.p. _Art Treasures Exhibition_, exh. cat., National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America, Parke-Bernet, New York, N.Y., May 1967, no. 247. _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ 71 (1968): 68. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 93. Mahonri Sharp Young, "Primitive to Pop," _Apollo_ 107 (April 1978): 284-285, fig. 2. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_, (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 77. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 Helmut von Erffa and Allen Staley, _The Paintings of Benjamin West_ (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986), 293. ISBN: 0300033559 Robin Simon, _The Portrait in Britain and America with a Biographical Dictionary of Portrait Painters, 1680-1814_ (Oxford: Phaidon Press Limited, 1987), 241. ISBN: 0816187959, 0714823864 Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 81. ISBN: 0-940744-59-7, 0-940744-62-7 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), 22-23, no. 2. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 58, fig. 56. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
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