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William Penn/ Pennsylvania. DELAUNEY, Robert (eng.)/ LE ROUGE, G. L. (publisher), WEST, Benjamin (artist). 19 x 11 ¾ inches. Copperplate engraving. Excellent condition. Benjamin West was the first American artist to receive international recognition and to influence artistic trends in Europe. He was born in Pennsylvania and studied art in Philadelphia, where he met a sponsor who sent him to Italy to study classical art. He settled in London in 1763, making his reputation as a history painter, and receiving the prestigious appointment of historical painter to the court by King George III in 1772. Twenty years later, he became president of the Royal Academy of Arts. "The William Penn Treaty: Creating an Image of Peace." The State Museum of Pennsylvania. http://www.statemuseumpa.org/Potamkin/creating/index.htm (19 December 2002);"Benjamin West." The Grove Dictionary of Art. New York: Macmillan. 2000. Online at Artnet.com. http://www.artnet.com/library/09/0912/T091222.asp (19 December 2002).
Very finely engraved rendering of Benjamin West’s iconic painting commemorating the treaty between William Penn and his delegation and a Native American tribe in 1682. It served as the frontispiece of Le Rouge’s atlas, Pilote Américain Septentrional, published in 1778. It was based on a painting commissioned by Penn's son Thomas in 1771 and is now in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. West’s largely allegorical image presents a peaceful scene of trade between colonists and Indian that is overseen by a benevolent Willian Penn with outstretched hands. An associate of Penn to his left holds a map that was presumbably used in the treaty negotiations. An interesting detail is an Indian woman in the foreground breast-feeding her baby that appears to suggest innocence and trust. The partially built settlement is deftly shown in the background.
Price: $550.00