King Lear

ca. 1788

Benjamin West American, 1738-1820

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title King Lear

Artwork Date ca. 1788

Artist Benjamin West

Life Dates 1738-1820

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 20 1/2 × 27 1/2 inches (52.1 × 69.9 cm) Framed: 27 × 34 × 4 inches (68.6 × 86.4 × 10.2 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 77.58

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left: B. West

Inscriptions ------

Marks Label, formerly affixed to the back of the painting: Hamilton Palace, no. 1068.

Provenance

by 1838, William Beckford, Bath

his daughter Euphemia, wife of the tenth Duke of Hamilton

the twelfth Duke of Hamilton. June 17-July 20, Hamilton Palace sale, Christies, lot 1068 (London, England). dealer, H. Graves and Co. (London, England). 1909, Thomas B. Walker (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA). 1937, Harry W. Peterson. 1977, Frank Gunter (Champaign, Illinois, USA). 1977-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Public Advertiser (June 5, 1789).

“A Correct Catalogue of the Works of Mr. West.” Public Characters of 1805 (1805): p. 566.

“A Correct List of the Works of Mr. West.” Universal Magazine 3 (1805): p. 530.

“A Correct Catalogue of the Works of Benjamin West, Esq.” La Belle Assemblee or Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine 4 (1808): p. 17.

Galt, John. The Life and Works of Benjamin West, ESQ., President of the Royal Academy of London, Subsequent to his Arrival in the Country. London, 1820, p. 229.

Lansdown, Charlotte, ed. Recollections of the Late William Beckford, of Fonthill, Wilts, and Lansdown, Bath. 1893, p. 13.

Catalogue of Paintings & Sculpture Placed in the Minneapolis Public Library by Thomas B. Walker, with an Appendix Giving a List and Description of Paintings and Sculptures Presented by Others. Exh. cat., Minneapolis Public Library. Minneapolis, 1909, no. 91.

Adams, R.H. The Walker Art Galleries, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis, 1927, p. 170, no. 317.

Friedman, Winifred H. Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery. New York, 1976, p. 150.

Dillenberger, John. Benjamin West: The Context of his Life’s Work with Particular Attention to Paintings with Religious Subject Matter. San Antonio, 1977, p. 174.

Cinco Siglos de Obras Maestras de la Peintura en Colecciones Norteamericanas Cedidas en Prestamo a Costa Rica. Exh. cat., Museo de Jade. San Jose, Costa Rica, 1978, pp. 28-29, no. 2 (ill.).

Bulletin of the DIA 56, 5 (1978): p. 263, no. 4 (ill.).

Sund, Judy. “Benjamin West: A Scene from King Lear.” Bulletin of the DIA 58, 3 (1980): pp. 127-136 (ill.).

Von Erffa, Helmut and Allen Staley. Benjamin West. New Haven, CT, 1986, p. 273, no. 211 (ill.).

Black, Mary, et al. American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Volume One: Works by Artists Born Before 1816. New York, 1991, pp. 234-237, no. 108.

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