My Daughter Elisabeth

ca. 1914

Frank Weston Benson American, 1862-1951

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

Benson’s portrait of his eldest daughter, Elisabeth, eloquently summarizes the artist’s interests during the early twentieth century—the exploration of outdoor light and the depiction of lively, radiant, young womanhood. Although Benson used a camera in his working process, he idealized his subjects when he transferred them to canvas. The images of his daughters in outdoor light remain the quintessential vision of American womanhood at the turn of the century.

Title My Daughter Elisabeth

Artwork Date ca. 1914

Artist Frank Weston Benson

Life Dates 1862-1951

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. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 44 × 37 inches (111.8 × 94 cm) Framed: 55 3/8 × 44 3/8 × 4 inches (140.7 × 112.7 × 10.2 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Detroit Museum of Art Purchase, Special Membership and Donations Fund with contributions from Philip, David and Paul R. Gray, and their sister Mrs. William R. Kales

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. 16.31

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left corner: F. W. Benson

Provenance

until 1916, the artist, Frank Weston Benson;
1916-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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Published References

Burroughs, Clyde. “Annual Exhibition.” Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art, 10, no. 8 (April 1916): p. 9.

“The Second Annual Exhibition.” Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art 10, no. 9 (May 1916): pp. 3, 14 (ill.).

“A Painting by Frank W. Benson.” Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art 11, no. 2-3 (November-December 1916): pp. 19-20 (ill.).

Second Annual Exhibition of Painting by American Artists. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1916, pp. 6-7 (ill.).

American Beauty: Paintings and Sculpture from the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1770-1920. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 2001, no. 73, pp. 99-100.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Frank Weston Benson, My Daughter Elisabeth, ca. 1914, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Museum of Art Purchase, Special Membership and Donations Fund with contributions from Philip Gray, et al., 16.31.