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Benjamin West

9 of 29 portraits by Caroline Watson

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Benjamin West

by Caroline Watson, after Gilbert Stuart
stipple engraving, published 1786 (circa 1785)
10 1/8 in. x 7 1/4 in. (258 mm x 183 mm) plate size; 10 1/8 in. x 7 1/4 in. (258 mm x 183 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D37695

Sitterback to top

  • Benjamin West (1738-1820), History painter and President of the Royal Academy. Sitter associated with 43 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 39 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 61 portraits.
  • Caroline Watson (1760 or 1761-1814), Printmaker. Artist or producer associated with 29 portraits.

Related worksback to top

Events of 1786back to top

Current affairs

Philosopher and politician Edmund Burke instigates impeachment proceedings against Warren Hastings, former Governor-General of Bengal after concerns about the moral standards of the British in India are raised.
Prime Minister William Pitt appoints commissioners for the reduction of the national debt and establishes a sinking fund of £1 million a year.
Government approves the establishment of a penal colony at Botany Bay.

Art and science

Robert Burns publishes Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect bringing him immediate success across the country.
Engraver and publisher John Boydell initiates plans for his Shakespeare Gallery in an effort to establish a school of British history painting.
Merchant David Dale establishes New Lanark in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, as a model cotton milling community.

International

General Charles Cornwallis succeeds Warren Hastings as Governor-General in India.
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna.
Francisco Goya is appointed court painter to the Spanish king Charles III.

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