Art theory and production in the studio of Benjamin West.
Item
-
Title
-
Art theory and production in the studio of Benjamin West.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9959169
-
identifier
-
9959169
-
Creator
-
Carson, Jenny Mayfield.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: William H. Gerdts
-
Date
-
2000
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Art History
-
Abstract
-
This dissertation examines the process of art production in the large and prosperous studio of Benjamin West, examining his roles as teacher and artist. West's reputation and success were based on wealth (or the illusion of wealth), innovative painting strategies, and a professed knowledge of contemporary art theory. To all this he added self-promotional tales of his own biography, which, according to West, were proof of his artistic genius. His concept of artistic genius was based on two opposing ideas; an artistic "innocence" born of his close ties to nature and the natural world, and his inherent understanding, from an early age, of the artifice characteristic of eighteenth-century art theory.;First hand accounts of life in West's studio recorded by his students and friends, as well as contemporary biographies, are examined in conjunction with eighteenth-century artistic practices found in instructional treatises of the day. Considered scientific in his approach to his craft, West meticulously followed the artistic methods handed down from the French and Italian academies of the seventeenth century. An examination of West's preparatory drawings reveals he followed three specific stages of painting preparation; invention, composition and design. In planning the painting of a picture, West, critical of artists who relied on instinct, was guided by the color theories of Isaac Newton. His interests in color theory echo a larger trend in which artists no longer needed to be concerned with the time-consuming manufacture of pigment in the studio, relying instead on paint suppliers, a practice that greatly reduced the need for studio assistants. West's scientific and methodical techniques rendered him a valuable teacher and his willingness to share his methods with a large number of students broke with traditional apprentice/master conventions. Since nearly all successful American artists of the period spent time in West's studio during their formative years, knowing more about their experience there leads to a greater understanding of their subsequent careers, as well as the way in which art was taught in America well into the nineteenth century.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
