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Inspiration From Artist Wk 225 Featuring Artists : Frank Weston Benson - Charle Blomfield .

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Welcome to this week thread , hope you are all keeping well  and safe in the extreme heat we are having. This weeks artist are : Frank Weston Benson and Charles Blomfield . I will start the thread off with my introduction to Frank Weston Benson, on Wednesday Sandra will introduced her chosen artist Charles Blomfield. There is a thirteen hour time difference between New Zealand and the UK , Sandra will post her introduction on what is Wednesday morning to her but late night Tuesday to us. Not fair to expect her to stay up late on her Wednesday evening to meet our lunch time change, just post it at your convenience Sandra don’t worry about any overlap etc . Frank Weston Benson 1862 - 1952, was an American artist from Salem Massachusetts. He is known for his realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolour and etching. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the library of Congress.  In 1880 Benson began to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in 1883 he traveled to Paris to study at the Acadami Julienne . He had a distinguished career as an instructor and head of department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston . There is a very comprehensive bio on Wikipedia. I hope you enjoy my selection, I’ve tried to give a variety of his work do take a look online as there are some superb examples of his artwork.

Alan Bickley

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Interesting, but these don’t appear to all be by the same artist! Or am I wrong… The style varies quite a lot… I actually thought that the last one was by Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla until I looked at the signature.

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by Alan Bickley

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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I won’t contradict you Alan as you know far more than I do about paintings  and styles etc, I took then from the same site and it attributed them to him . It won’t be the first time that we or I have posted work attributed to an artist to find out it isn’t their work. 
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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I've no idea, but note that Benson lived to be 90 and doubtless had a long career - change and development could account for the stylistic differences.  I'll have a scout around the deep recesses of the internet tomorrow, to see if I can discover anything useful. It's a great group of paintings and drawings  (etchings?), whether they're all by Benson or not. 

Tessa Gwynne

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My initial thoughts were the same as Alan’s, surely these are not all by the same artist! Then I found the website www.frankwbenson.com which contains a lengthy and interesting explanation of his life, career and methods from etching, lithography, to watercolour and oil painting in the impressionist style. As a boy he was fascinated by birds and wildlife which explains his desire to portray the birds he saw along the coast. Much of his later impressionist style was inspired by his wife and children again set in the coastline where he lived. Maybe he was inspired by Sorolla. His work certainly reminded me of that style and he certainly has a beautiful capture of sunlight in his work. I can’t repeat it all but it’s a very good read. 
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Sandra Kennedy

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Another wonderful find Paul.

Jenny Harris

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Like Tessa, I took a look at his website.  All the images Paul posted had a fairly clear signature except the Campsite one, and I thought that looked a different style to the others, but that, too, is on his website.  I like a lot of his work.

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by Jenny Harris

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Well that’s a relief , the site I used said the painting were definitely his , I simply assumed that it was down to his change in style over a long career as Robert suggested. It’s added interest to the ones I posted as several people have checked out his website and that’s quite a positive thing, thanks for posting the information Tessa and Jenny . 

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by Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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A few more paintings and sketch’s from FW Benson before Sandra posts the introduction to her chosen artist.
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John Graham Inkson

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F W Benson’s art wonderful I love that pond. Thank you will look him up.
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Sandra Kennedy

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   Charles Blomfield 1848 – 1926 English born artist, brought to Auckland, New Zealand, by his widowed mother in 1863. Created many landscape paintings of the New Zealand countryside, often for sale to visitors to New Zealand. He primarily worked in oil on canvas. He was fortunate to view the famed Pink and White Terraces several times and paint them before they were lost in the eruption of Tarawera in 1886. (I’ve included the lithograph of the eruption that I added to the Charles Heaphy thread). He was unable to come to terms with developments in art and remained staunchly conservative and hostile to 'modern art'. In his later years he found himself increasingly sidelined by the artistic circles in Auckland, which he had previously shone in.

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by Sandra Kennedy

Entwined, abstract

Sandra Kennedy

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The White Terrace Lithograph of the Mt Tarawera eruption which destroyed the Pink and White Terraces
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