West, BENJAMIN, painter, was born at Springfield, Pennsylvania, 10th October 1738, of Quaker parentage, and, though lacking all encouragement, surprised his friends by his skill in drawing at the age of seven years, and at nine painted a picture in water-colours, which in after life he declared he had in some respects never surpassed. His first colours were made from leaves, berries, &c., and his brushes hairs stolen from a cat's tail. Thus self-taught, at the age of sixteen he practised portrait-painting in the villages near Philadelphia, and painted for a gunsmith his first historical picture, 'The Death of Socrates.' At eighteen he was painting portraits in Philadelphia, and later at New York, where in 1760 he was aided by some generous merchants to go and pursue his studies in Italy. At Rome he was patronised by Lord Grauntham, whose portrait he painted, became the friend of Raphael Mengs, and as the first American artist ever seen in Italy attracted much attention. He painted his 'Cimon and Iphigenia' and 'Angelica and Medora,' and was elected member of the Academies of Florence, Bologna, and Parma. In 1763, visiting England on his way to America, he was induced to remain in London, and in 1765 married Eliza Shewell, to whom he had been engaged before leaving America. His 'Agrippina landing with the ashes of Germanicus' attracted the attention of George III., who was his steady friend and patron for forty years, during which time he sketched or painted 400 pictures. His 'Death of General Wolfe,' painted in the costume of the period, against the advice of all the most distinguished painters, effected a revolution in the historic art of Britain. For the king he painted a series of 28 religious pictures for Windsor Castle. Among his best-known works are 'Edward III. at Cressy,' 'The Black Prince at Poictiers,' 'Queen
Philippa at Calais,' 'Penn's Treaty with the Indians,' 'Christ healing the Sick,' 'Death on the Pale Horse,' and the 'Battle of La Hogue.' In 1792 he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as the President of the Royal Academy, but declined the honour of knighthood. He attained very great contemporary fame, his drawing being correct and his composition skilful, though the coloring is a monotonous and dull reddish brown. Through his whole career he was the generous friend, adviser, and patron of young artists. He died in London, March 11, 1820, and was buried with great pomp at St Paul's Cathedral. His wife died 1817. Two sons survived him.
There is a Life of him (not good) by John Galt (1820), and another in Allan Cunningham's Lives; the best authorities are Dunlap's History of Arts in the United States (New York, 1834), C. E. Lester's Artists of America (1846), and H. T. Tuckerman's Book of the Artists (1867).