Lot Essay
RELATED WORKS:
Eleanor, 1901, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 25 inches, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
Sunlight, 1909, oil on canvas, 32 x 20 inches, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Summer, 1909, oil on canvas, 36 3/8 x 44 3/8 inches, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
Among the most celebrated American impressionist pictures are the plein-air paintings of the Boston School. During the early years of the twentieth century, Frank Weston Benson, a leader of the Boston School, developed a highly personal impressionistic style that reached its heights in the works executed at his summer home on North Haven Island off the coast of Maine. Eleanor on the Hilltop reflects both his interest in observing and painting the light of the Maine coast as well as capturing his family as they engaged in the quiet, leisurely pursuits that defined their lives during the summer months.
Benson first travelled to North Haven in 1900 while visiting friends that spent summers on the island. The Benson family soon purchased property there, and the artist converted a large barn for use as a studio. During the summer months on North Haven, Benson painted outdoors -- a welcome change from his winter routine that usually confined him to his Boston studio. Benson would compose his most celebrated plein-air paintings on the island, including Eleanor on the Hilltop, which he completed in 1912.
While in Maine, Benson adopted a more painterly style -- an effective device for capturing the bright light, clear skies, and brilliant colors that filled the island during the summer. When the artist exhibited works he had executed in this style, critics noted his new approach to painting. In March 1911, the year before the artist painted Eleanor on the Hilltop, William Howe Downes wrote in the magazine Arts and Decorations, "He sets before us visions of the free life of the open air, with figures of gracious women and lovely children, in a landscape drenched in sweet sunlight, and cooled by refreshing sea breezes." Eleanor on the Hilltop reflects the critic's sentiments -- the artist has composed a painting infused with soft atmospheric effects, largely the result of careful modulations in tones of blue, yellow, and pink.
Eleanor on the Hilltop depicts the artist's daughter with her hand raised to her brow looking across Penobscot Bay, a pose that Benson incorporated in several compositions during the early 1900s, the period when he had fully adopted an impressionist style. Throughout his career Benson occasionally repeated motifs that he found particularly successful, recombining and refining a composition over time. Benson first captured his daughter Eleanor with her hand to her brow in Eleanor (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design) of 1901, when she was 11 years old. In this image, however, the figure faces the viewer. Not until 1909, in Summer (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design) and in Sunlight (fig.a), did the artist depict his daughter in the pose that he later refined for use in Eleanor on the Hilltop. The compositions of both Summer and Sunlight emphasize the height of the figure as she gazes into an unseen landscape. In Eleanor on the Hilltop, however, the artist retains both the graceful and sturdy qualities of the figure, and at the same time incorporates her pose into a broader landscape filled with the bright, clear light that characterizes the coast of Maine.
Like other painters trained in a traditional academic setting, Benson composed his works methodically, occasionally using photographs as an aid. In Eleanor on the Hilltop, for example, Benson most likely referred to a photograph of his daughter Eleanor (fig.b), as well as to two earlier works, Sunlight and Summer, of 1909. Using the photograph as a guide for the figure as well as sketching in plein-air, Benson could capture the essence of the sparkling light and at the same time develop a bold composition. The artist was particularly sensitive to the nuances of a fine composition, regarding it as the most important quality of a painting. He later said to his daughter Eleanor, "A picture is merely an experiment in design. If the design is pleasing the picture is good...Few appreciate that what makes them admire a picture is the design made by the painter." (Advice on Painting from F.W.B. Notes Taken after Criticsm by E.B.L., 22 February 1936, unpublished manuscript). Eleanor on the Hilltop reflects Benson's interest in careful balance between figure and landscape -- placing his daughter in the left foreground and devoting the right of the composition to a light-filled view of land, sky, and water.
While Benson regarded a picture's composition as preeminent, he also sought to develop a harmonious color scheme for Eleanor on the Hilltop that enhanced the picture's overall aesthetic. In addition, the composition speaks to the special qualities of North Haven Island, as the open expanse in the right part of the composition calls to mind the far-reaching views across Penobscot Bay that the Bensons enjoyed from their summer home. In Eleanor on the Hilltop and in his other plein-air works, the artist developed a special sense of place reflecting the carefree days of summer that the family enjoyed on the island. With its refined subject matter and sensitive execution, Eleanor on the Hilltop exemplifies the rarefied aesthetic of the Boston School.
Eleanor, 1901, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 25 inches, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
Sunlight, 1909, oil on canvas, 32 x 20 inches, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Summer, 1909, oil on canvas, 36 3/8 x 44 3/8 inches, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
Among the most celebrated American impressionist pictures are the plein-air paintings of the Boston School. During the early years of the twentieth century, Frank Weston Benson, a leader of the Boston School, developed a highly personal impressionistic style that reached its heights in the works executed at his summer home on North Haven Island off the coast of Maine. Eleanor on the Hilltop reflects both his interest in observing and painting the light of the Maine coast as well as capturing his family as they engaged in the quiet, leisurely pursuits that defined their lives during the summer months.
Benson first travelled to North Haven in 1900 while visiting friends that spent summers on the island. The Benson family soon purchased property there, and the artist converted a large barn for use as a studio. During the summer months on North Haven, Benson painted outdoors -- a welcome change from his winter routine that usually confined him to his Boston studio. Benson would compose his most celebrated plein-air paintings on the island, including Eleanor on the Hilltop, which he completed in 1912.
While in Maine, Benson adopted a more painterly style -- an effective device for capturing the bright light, clear skies, and brilliant colors that filled the island during the summer. When the artist exhibited works he had executed in this style, critics noted his new approach to painting. In March 1911, the year before the artist painted Eleanor on the Hilltop, William Howe Downes wrote in the magazine Arts and Decorations, "He sets before us visions of the free life of the open air, with figures of gracious women and lovely children, in a landscape drenched in sweet sunlight, and cooled by refreshing sea breezes." Eleanor on the Hilltop reflects the critic's sentiments -- the artist has composed a painting infused with soft atmospheric effects, largely the result of careful modulations in tones of blue, yellow, and pink.
Eleanor on the Hilltop depicts the artist's daughter with her hand raised to her brow looking across Penobscot Bay, a pose that Benson incorporated in several compositions during the early 1900s, the period when he had fully adopted an impressionist style. Throughout his career Benson occasionally repeated motifs that he found particularly successful, recombining and refining a composition over time. Benson first captured his daughter Eleanor with her hand to her brow in Eleanor (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design) of 1901, when she was 11 years old. In this image, however, the figure faces the viewer. Not until 1909, in Summer (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design) and in Sunlight (fig.a), did the artist depict his daughter in the pose that he later refined for use in Eleanor on the Hilltop. The compositions of both Summer and Sunlight emphasize the height of the figure as she gazes into an unseen landscape. In Eleanor on the Hilltop, however, the artist retains both the graceful and sturdy qualities of the figure, and at the same time incorporates her pose into a broader landscape filled with the bright, clear light that characterizes the coast of Maine.
Like other painters trained in a traditional academic setting, Benson composed his works methodically, occasionally using photographs as an aid. In Eleanor on the Hilltop, for example, Benson most likely referred to a photograph of his daughter Eleanor (fig.b), as well as to two earlier works, Sunlight and Summer, of 1909. Using the photograph as a guide for the figure as well as sketching in plein-air, Benson could capture the essence of the sparkling light and at the same time develop a bold composition. The artist was particularly sensitive to the nuances of a fine composition, regarding it as the most important quality of a painting. He later said to his daughter Eleanor, "A picture is merely an experiment in design. If the design is pleasing the picture is good...Few appreciate that what makes them admire a picture is the design made by the painter." (Advice on Painting from F.W.B. Notes Taken after Criticsm by E.B.L., 22 February 1936, unpublished manuscript). Eleanor on the Hilltop reflects Benson's interest in careful balance between figure and landscape -- placing his daughter in the left foreground and devoting the right of the composition to a light-filled view of land, sky, and water.
While Benson regarded a picture's composition as preeminent, he also sought to develop a harmonious color scheme for Eleanor on the Hilltop that enhanced the picture's overall aesthetic. In addition, the composition speaks to the special qualities of North Haven Island, as the open expanse in the right part of the composition calls to mind the far-reaching views across Penobscot Bay that the Bensons enjoyed from their summer home. In Eleanor on the Hilltop and in his other plein-air works, the artist developed a special sense of place reflecting the carefree days of summer that the family enjoyed on the island. With its refined subject matter and sensitive execution, Eleanor on the Hilltop exemplifies the rarefied aesthetic of the Boston School.