Editor's note: The Cahoon Museum of American Art
provided source material to Resource Library for the following article
or essay. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material,
please contact the Cahoon Museum of American Art directly through either
this phone number or web address:
Frank W. Benson Sportsman/Etcher
September 13 - October 22, 2005
Boston impressionist
Frank W. Benson (1862-1951) loved the pursuit of wildfowl, whether hunting
them outdoors or trying to capture their elusive grace through the medium
of etching. One focus of the exhibition will be the role the artist's hunting
lodge on Nauset Marsh in Eastham played in his work.
Wall text from the exhibition
Salem artist Frank W. Benson (1862-1951) was one of the
most important American impressionists. He was a founding member of the
group known as the 
Ten American
Painters, which also included Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, J. Alden Weir
and Edmund Tarbell. And along with Tarbell, he taught several generations
of students at the Museum School in Boston. But in midlife, after establishing
a stellar reputation for sunlit paintings of women and children (as well
as for studio portraits), he abandoned those subjects in preference for
scenes with hunters, fishermen and, especially, game birds. (right:
Frank W. Benson, "Boats at Dawn," 1920, etching on zinc on Japanese
paper, 7 7/8 x 10 7/8 inches; collection of the Cahoon Museum of American
Art)
This wasn't really a new interest. As a youth, he had wanted
to be an ornithological illustrator. And he had always enjoyed hunting and
fishing. In 1891 with two other men in his extended family he
had purchased an old farmhouse on Nauset Marsh in North Eastham for use
as a hunting lodge. His time there inspired much of his sporting artworks.
Aside from an early effort, Benson started doing etchings
and drypoint engravings in earnest in 1912. In 1915, rather as a whim, he
put 16 prints into a show along with his paintings at the Guild of Boston
Artists. Not really expecting them to attract much attention, he was amazed
when the gallery called asking for additional impressions. Apparently intrigued
with the process and probably excited by the public's response
he produced an amazing 52 etching and drypoint plates over the next year.
Twenty-eight featured birds. Over the course of his career, he made 355
etchings and drypoints, with the majority related to his experiences as
a sportsman and bird-lover. As his reputation soared, his prints were held
in such high esteem that his standard editions of 150 were generally fully
subscribed before he had even printed them. Many collectors kept standing
orders with their dealers for new Benson prints.
Benson is commonly acknowledged as the creator of the American
sporting etching and is still widely considered the all-time master of the
art. Whether rendering a flock of geese hovering between marsh and sky or
a woodcock rising from the brush, he combined ornithological accuracy and
an understanding of the mechanisms of avian flight with a rare ability to
convey a sense of motion. In "Frank W. Benson's Etchings, Drypoints
and Lithographs," John T. Ordeman uses this Benson quote from a 1935
Boston Herald story: "You will realize that a subject of this
nature [birds] will hardly ever pose for one, and my pictures of wildfowl
are entirely the result of things seen in nature and drawn from memory.
I try to make them part of the landscape in which they occur rather than
to describe them as specimens. The thing I enjoy most about them is their
wildness."
Our Benson etching exhibition includes three of the artist's
lithographs, thus giving further proof of his printmaking expertise and
his eye for birds. We also couldn't resist sharing a few of Benson's sporting
watercolors with our visitors. They afford the opportunity to compare his
glorious work in color with his exquisite work in black and white.
A special thanks to Faith Andrews Bedford for helping
directly and indirectly with this exhibition. Her book "The Sporting
Art of Frank W. Benson" (David R. Godine, Publisher, 2000) has been
a wonderful resource, and we're indebted to her for much of the background
information that accompanies this show. She also provided the vintage photography
of Benson and the farmhouse in Eastham.
We also want to thank James G. Hinkle of Cummaquid for
his generosity in sponsoring this show. Jim, who is on the museum's board
of trustees, helped spark our interest in Benson's prints when he donated
two sporting etchings to the museum in 2001.
Label copy from the exhibition
-
- The Fishermen 1915
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on Shogun paper
-
- COURTESY OF ERNEST S. KRAMER FINE ARTS & PRINTS, INC., WELLESLEY
-
- Benson based this print on his 1904 oil "Calm Morning," which
is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting
was done in Maine and pictures the three oldest of the four Benson children
Eleanor, George and Elisabeth. The positions of the trio are reversed
in the etching, and the artist made a number of other changes in the background.
-
-
- Frank W. Benson and a Tame Osprey
-
- COURTESY OF FAITH ANDREWS BEDFORD
-
- This photograph of artist and bird was taken around 1913 at Wooster
Farm, the Benson family's second home in Maine. Benson first rented the
old place, located on North Haven Island in Penobscot Bay, in 1901. He
bought it five years later and summered there for almost 40 years. There
was plenty of time to enjoy tennis, sailing, swimming and hiking. But at
Wooster Farm, Benson also did many of his impressionist paintings, often
featuring his daughters posed on hillsides, wearing white dresses. Maine
also provided such motifs as ocean views, soaring eagles and osprey, and
fishermen in dories. And the barn at the farm was Benson's first etching
studio. That's where he did his first plates (since his student days) in
the summer of 1912.
-
-
- Bound Home 1918
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on paper
-
- One of the figures in "Bound Home" is Benson himself, who
relaxes contentedly with his pipe, resting against the gunwales as the
catboat skims over the waves. His son, George, is at full attention at
the tiller.
-
-
- Osprey With Fish
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Watercolor on paper
-
- Benson did his first black-and-white wash drawings at the Farmhouse
in Eastham, starting around 1898. These monochromatic pieces were often
quick impressions, and the artist gave them to his sporting companions
as souvenirs or hung them up in the lodge. Then, in 1913, he exhibited
two of them in a watercolor show at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts and 20 at the Copley Society in Boston to an enthusiastic response.
Thereafter, he painted many of them, and, to his surprise, they sold quickly
and received much critical praise. Because these beautiful paintings express
much, with few and delicate strokes, they were perceived as being "in
the true Japanese spirit."
-
- "Osprey With Fish" was probably done during one of Benson's
summers in Maine. He and his family enjoyed watching the osprey or fish
hawks that nested near Wooster Farm.
-
-
- Cancelled Zinc Etching Plate for "Fish Hawk" 1913
-
- Cancelled Copper Etching Plate for "Two Mallards"
1933
-
- Zinc Etching Plate
- for "Flying Widgeon" 1924
-
- The House on Nauset Marsh
-
- COLLECTION OF THE CAHOON MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
-
- Maurice Richardson's son, Wyman, who also became a doctor, wrote essays
about the Eastham farmhouse that were published in The Atlantic Monthly
during the late 1940s and early 1950s. After his death in 1953, they were
published in the form of a book, "The House on Nauset Marsh"
(W.W. Norton & Company, 1955). Much of the book (which remains in print)
contains Wyman Richardson's observations on the dunes and the shore and
Cape Cod flora and fauna and much of it takes place after Benson
stopped going there. But one chapter, "The West Shore," tells
of a Christmas vacation hunting expedition and mentions Benson though
the author refers to him as "Uncle Frank."
-
- As Richardson tells it, the party always hoped for a northwester that
would make conditions just right for hunting black ducks. One year, they
got their wish and, come morning, the men and boys started out early in
the bitter cold. The party is led by long-legged Uncle Frank, who takes
a hurried glance over his shoulder at the now brightening eastern sky,
and increases his stride still more. Richardson writes a few paragraphs
about shooting ducks from cliffs at the edge of the beach, then mentions
Benson once again: Uncle Frank stands up and waves, and you all reassemble
and count the score. You have your duck, Uncle Frank has eight, and the
others, two or three apiece. Nobody has done really well, except Uncle
Frank, and even he has had his difficulties.
-
- Today, "The House on Nauset Marsh" remains in the hands of
the Richardson family.
-
-
- Old Tom 1926
-
- Frank W. Benson ( 1862-1951)
- Etching on Whatman paper
-
- The man in the print is Eastham resident Thomas Nickerson, who was
one of the principle caretakers for the hunting lodge (taking over the
task from his father, Myrick Nickerson). He met Benson and his companions
at the train station, kept their traps and nets in good working condition,
cleaned the game or fish, and prepared meals. He also frequently served
as a hunting guide and often joined the sportsmen in shooting. He was said
to have been quite a good shot.
-
- In 1923, after Nickerson had died, Benson painted a watercolor of him
wearing his yellow oilskins and holding a gun and a dead bird. Three years
later, he produced this etching, based on the painting in those specifics,
but having a more powerful overall effect. Here, Nickerson is almost a
heroic figure, massive and imposing. Benson also made Nickerson the subject
of an etching titled "The Gunner."
-
-
- Over Cape Cod 1932
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on paper
-
-
- The House on Nauset Marsh
-
- COURTESY OF FAITH ANDREWS BEDFORD
-
- In the late fall of 1891, Benson bought a small, rustic farmhouse in
North Eastham with Edward Peirson (brother of his wife, Ellen) and Maurice
Richardson (husband of Ellen's sister). Peirson and Richardson were
both physicians, and they shared Benson's enthusiasm for hunting and fishing.
The three men paid a total of $650 for the place on Nauset Marsh, with
Richardson coming up with half and Benson and Peirson each paying a quarter.
They hired locals to fix up the house, then had their first stay there
in March 1892. The Farmhouse, as they called it, became a frequently used
retreat for them and their sons and their friends. (Benson often invited
other artists.) Spending the week after Christmas there became a tradition,
and the men made several other trips down to the lodge in the spring and
fall. The easy-going atmosphere at the Farmhouse was exemplified by the
words "Do As You Damned Please," which the men carved into a
fireplace mantle. A year or two later, Benson painted a mural of flying
geese on the walls. (One time, after a hunt, one of boys, mistakenly thinking
his gun was unloaded, took aim at a goose and fired, hitting it in the
neck and narrowly missing the cook who was working beyond the wall in the
kitchen.) Eventually, the men had a veranda added to the side of the house
so they could better enjoy their views of the marshes, sand dunes and sea.
-
- The house on Nauset Marsh was a superb location for hunting and
for observing birds. There were ducks of many varieties; shorebirds like
yellowlegs, plover, sandpipers and heron; and such field specimens as quail,
snipe and pigeons. The rule of the house was that you had to eat anything
you shot even a gull or a crow.
-
- This vintage photograph and the two others on exhibit here
are reproduced in Faith Andrews Bedford's book "The Sporting Art of
Frank W. Benson."
-
-
- Heading Back to the Farmhouse
-
- COURTESY OF FAITH ANDREWS BEDFORD
-
- Benson, seated at the tiller, and Maurice Richardson sail back to their
hunting lodge in Eastham following a day of shooting on the marsh. This
photo probably dates from around 1898.
-
-
- Hawk 1945
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Watercolor on paper
-
-
- Three Mallards 1945
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Watercolor on paper
-
-
- Hunter and Decoys
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Watercolor on paper
-
-
- Grouse Rising 1938
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Watercolor on paper
-
- In "The Sporting Art of Frank W. Benson," Faith Andrews Bedford
writes at some length about the artist's interest in the grouse: "The
natural camouflage of the grouse fascinated Benson, as did its behavior.
He painted them often, most frequently in watercolor, since the medium
was ideally suited to capturing the quick movements of these cautious birds.
Benson once said that few shooting experiences could equal that of flushing
a grouse. Literally from under his feet the birds would rocket off, heading
for cover with an explosive roar of wings, the cocks rising steeply towards
a high tree, the hens scurrying for low brush. Although Benson admitted
that few dogs could find and hold a grouse, he still got plenty of them,
for his paintings as well as for his bag."
-
- "Grouse Rising" shows how perfectly the bird's plumage blends
with the colors of the winter woods.
-
-
- Common Goldeneye Working Decoy (Male)
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Wood carving
-
- When shooting was poor at the farmhouse, Benson often spent his time
carving decoys. He also used decoys in many of his artworks.
-
-
- Common Goldeneye Working Decoy (Female)
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Wood carving
-
-
- Snipe c. 1878
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Oil on board
-
- This is one of the two earliest known oils that Benson painted, dating
from when he was 16 and hoping to become an ornithological illustrator.
He had been hunting with friends and shot two birds a rail and a
snipe. When he brought them home, he hung them upside down on the barn
door and did a separate painting of each bird. His desire to study and
understand birds was already very apparent.
-
-
- Plodding Home 1924
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on paper
-
- COLLECTION OF THE CAHOON MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART; GIFT OF JAMES G. HINKLE
-
-
- Setting Decoys 1923
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching
-
-
- Wildfowler 1923
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on Japanese vellum
-
- "Wildfowler" tells a little story. Out very early in the
morning, the hunter has arranged his decoys in the water and, after checking
their pattern, is about to take up his position in his blind. Birds flying
in the distance offer hope that his efforts will not have been in vain.
-
-
- Boats at Dawn 1920
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on zinc on paper
-
- COLLECTION OF THE CAHOON MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART; GIFT OF JAMES G. HINKLE
-
-
- Yellowlegs No. 2 1919
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on Shogun paper
-
-
- Turnstones 1928
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on copper on Whatman paper
-
-
- Heron Fishing 1919
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on paper
-
-
- Woodcock 1930
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on Shogun paper
-
-
- Chickadees 1919
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on paper
-
-
- Blackbirds and Rushes 1920
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on Japanese vellum
-
- "Blackbirds and Rushes" has a very different look from Benson's
other prints of birds and a decidedly Oriental flavor. The velvety
black birds are placed seemingly at random among the airy, delicately drawn
beach grasses. Our eyes flit from one small, dark form to another, adding
to the sense of the grasses trembling in the wind.
-
-
- Two Crows 1920
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Drypoint on Japanese vellum
-
-
- The Punter 1927
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on Whatman paper
-
-
- The Etcher's Art: Frank W. Benson
-
- In 1926, Harvard University shot a 23-minute silent film of Frank W.
Benson creating his etching "Towering Widgeon," producing it
for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This rare footage follows the process
from the artist's first sketch to his examination of the finished print
all shot in Benson's studio at his home in Salem. The film was later
transferred to video format by John T. Ordeman, author of "Frank W.
Benson: Master of the Sporting Print" and "Frank W. Benson's
Etchings, Drypoints and Lithographs."
-
-
- Winter Wildfowling 1927
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on Whatman paper
-
-
- Marsh Gunner 1918
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on paper
-
- John T. Ordeman, author of a monograph on Benson, has referred to the
confident young sportsman in "Marsh Gunner" as "Michelangelo's
'David' in hip boots standing in an Essex marsh."
-
-
- Clam Digger 1914
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on paper
-
-
- The Gunners' Blind 1921
-
- Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)
- Etching on paper
-
- The light is spectacular in this romantic print, which could have been
titled "I'm Out of Here" or, perhaps, "The One That Got
Away." A lone duck spots the two hunters before they've completely
concealed themselves in their blind and flies away. The standing hunter
seems to look after the wildfowl, noting a missed opportunity. In this
particular work, man doesn't necessarily seem to have the upper edge. Under
the vast and dramatic sky, the hunters look very small.
-
-