Family, Students, and Legacy:Benjamin West’s Workshop and the Shaping of an

American School of Art

Abram FoxUniversity of Marylandabramfox@gmail.com

abramfox.com

Matthew Pratt, The American School, 1765Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sir Thomas LawrenceBenjamin West, P.R.A.1810Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Benjamin WestThe Artist and His Son Raphael

1773Yale Center for British Art,

Paul Mellon Collection

Benjamin WestRaphael West and Benjamin West Jr.,

Sons of the Artistca. 1796

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Benjamin West and John Trumbull, The Battle of La Hogue, 1778, retouched 1806Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund

First Generation (1763-1785)

Matthew PrattAbraham DelanoyHenry Benbridge

Charles Willson PealeJoseph WrightGilbert Stuart

Ralph Earl

Second Generation (1780-1795)

John TrumbullMather BrownRaphael West

Benjamin West, Jr.Thomas Spence Duché

William DunlapGeorge William West

Henry SargentRobert Fulton

Third Generation (1800-1820)

Washington AllstonRembrandt Peale

Abraham G.D. TuthillEdward G. Malbone

Charles Bird KingSamuel Lovett Waldo

Thomas SullySamuel F.B. Morse

Charles Robert LeslieGilbert Stuart Newton

Generational Structure of Benjamin West’s Workshop

Benjamin West

Gilbert StuartSelf-Portrait

ca. 1778Redwood Library and Athenaeum

Washington AllstonSelf-Portrait

1805Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Gilbert StuartSelf-Portrait

ca. 1778Redwood Library and Athenaeum

Washington AllstonSelf-Portrait

1805Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Benjamin West, The Artist and His Family, ca. 1772Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection