1862 -1951 · American impressionism, portrait, outdoors and birds

Sun-drenched whites, family figures, Maine coasts and moving birds make Frank Weston Benson a luminous master of American impressionism.

Frank Weston Benson was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1862. Very early on, passionate about nature and birds, he first considered a career as an ornithological illustrator. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston then left for Paris in 1883 with his friend Edmund Tarbell. At the Académie Julian, he received rigorous academic training and discovered contemporary debates on light and outdoor painting. Back in the United States, Benson became a professor at the Museum School in Boston in 1883, where he taught until 1917. A sought-after portraitist, he painted sponsors, women and children with solid drawing, a clear palette and a precise sense of pose. HAS beginning in the late 1890s, he frequently settled his family outdoors in Maine's summer properties. His daughters, dressed in white, appear on a hill, near a window or in a boat, surrounded by air, wind and reflections. These compositions combine family intimacy, social elegance and an impressionist touch. In 1898, Benson helped found the Ten American Painters, a group that championed a personal approach to impressionism in the face of major institutional exhibitions. Éléonore, Summer and River Scenes show how he used colorful shadows and light surfaces to translate the moment. At the same time, his old interest for wildlife becomes a second major axis. Ducks, geese, eagles and hunting landscapes are studied in oil, watercolor, drypoint and etching. His animal prints met with considerable success and revealed an intimate knowledge of flight and the natural environment. Elected to the National Academy of Design and honored by numerous institutions, Benson continued his work until an advanced age. Elected to the National Academy of Design and honored by numerous institutions, Benson continued his work until an advanced age. Elected to the National Academy of Design and honored by numerous institutions, Benson continued his work until an advanced age. Elected in 1951, he linked Boston portraiture, impressionist light and American observation of nature. The "Frank Weston Benson" selection notably compares Éléonore and Été. His reading favors composition.

Benson paints the air as much as the figure: the white of a dress, the wind of a hill or the wing of a duck make the light visible.