American, 1839 - 1908
Benson entered the antique class of the Academy School in the last days of 1855. The following winter he was admitted to the life class; at the same he was studying portraiture in the studio of J. H. Wright. He continued in both antique and life classes at the Academy for the school seasons from 1856 through 1859, and is registered for the life class of 1863-64. From the autumn of 1859 through the spring of 1866 his address is noted as New York University, where a number of artists had studios.
During his student years, Benson began writing art criticism to supplement his income. His articles for the New York Evening Post were signed with the pseudonym "Proteus." His work as a critic brought him more recognition and income than did his portraits, genre and allegorical paintings, and so he maintained his double-sided career throughout his life.
Benson's first trip abroad was in 1867, when the magazine Galaxy sent him to Paris to report on French art and life. In 1869 he took up residence near East Rock in New Haven, Connecticut, but between 1871 and 1873, he made several trips to Italy and in 1874 he left America to take up residence in Italy: Rome until 1888, and thereafter, Venice for the remainder of his life. Sometime soon after his expatriation, he visited Syria and Egypt.
Benson's admiration for European attitudes concerning art were clearly expressed in his writing. In 1869 in Appleton's Journal, he praised French society for encouraging in painters and writers the freedom to express "enthusiasm and the admiration of beauty." Benson encouraged Americans to "cultivate a love of the beautiful" by opening local museums for the exhibition of copies and casts of famous ancient works of art. His criticism stressed the importance of color and the sensuous qualities of art over narrative or didactic content (Art Review, 1870). In addition to his contributions to newspapers and periodicals, Benson authored two books; Gaspara Stampa, the Story of her Life, 1881, and Art and Nature in Italy, 1882.
Earlier in his career Benson's works appeared in the exhibitions of the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston Mechanics Fair, and at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore; he was included in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the 1878 Paris Exposition, and his works were shown in exhibitions of the Royal Academy, London. Benson was a frequent exhibitor in Academy annual exhibitions from 1858 through 1879. His absence from the country would have contributed to his lack of involvement in Academy affairs and absence of his work from annuals. However, when in 1883--under a ruling the Academy had in force from 1882 to 1888--Benson was dropped from membership for failure to exhibit he demonstrated his reluctance to sever the connection by having two of his paintings lent by their owners to the 1884 Annual. His membership was reinstated, but as he did not again contribute to its exhibitions, the Academy finally eliminated him from its rolls in 1888.
During his student years, Benson began writing art criticism to supplement his income. His articles for the New York Evening Post were signed with the pseudonym "Proteus." His work as a critic brought him more recognition and income than did his portraits, genre and allegorical paintings, and so he maintained his double-sided career throughout his life.
Benson's first trip abroad was in 1867, when the magazine Galaxy sent him to Paris to report on French art and life. In 1869 he took up residence near East Rock in New Haven, Connecticut, but between 1871 and 1873, he made several trips to Italy and in 1874 he left America to take up residence in Italy: Rome until 1888, and thereafter, Venice for the remainder of his life. Sometime soon after his expatriation, he visited Syria and Egypt.
Benson's admiration for European attitudes concerning art were clearly expressed in his writing. In 1869 in Appleton's Journal, he praised French society for encouraging in painters and writers the freedom to express "enthusiasm and the admiration of beauty." Benson encouraged Americans to "cultivate a love of the beautiful" by opening local museums for the exhibition of copies and casts of famous ancient works of art. His criticism stressed the importance of color and the sensuous qualities of art over narrative or didactic content (Art Review, 1870). In addition to his contributions to newspapers and periodicals, Benson authored two books; Gaspara Stampa, the Story of her Life, 1881, and Art and Nature in Italy, 1882.
Earlier in his career Benson's works appeared in the exhibitions of the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston Mechanics Fair, and at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore; he was included in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the 1878 Paris Exposition, and his works were shown in exhibitions of the Royal Academy, London. Benson was a frequent exhibitor in Academy annual exhibitions from 1858 through 1879. His absence from the country would have contributed to his lack of involvement in Academy affairs and absence of his work from annuals. However, when in 1883--under a ruling the Academy had in force from 1882 to 1888--Benson was dropped from membership for failure to exhibit he demonstrated his reluctance to sever the connection by having two of his paintings lent by their owners to the 1884 Annual. His membership was reinstated, but as he did not again contribute to its exhibitions, the Academy finally eliminated him from its rolls in 1888.
