Hector bidding farewell to Andromache and Astyanax

Details

Benjamin West, P.R.A. (Pennsylvania 1738-1820 London)
Hector bidding farewell to Andromache and Astyanax
pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour, watermark Britannia
9¾ x 7¾ in. (248 x 198 mm.)

Provenance

The artist's family, and by descent to
Mrs P. Howard; Sotheby's, London, 22 March 1979, lot 12.

Literature

Supplement to La Belle Assemblée - A Correct Catalogue of the Works by Benjamin West, Esq., published in Bell's Court and Fashionable Magazine, otherwise known as La Belle Assemblée, 1808, no. 265. H. von Erffa and A. Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven and London, 1986, no. 163, note 4, p. 249.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Sale room notice

Please note that this lot is being sold with no reserve.

Lot Essay

The present watercolour shows a scene from the Iliad Book 6, 440-70. West painted at least four versions of this subject and executed a drawing, now in the Getty Museum (von Erffa and Staley, op.cit., no. 165). The present study, however, has a greater range of colour and provides a more intimate interpretation of the leave taking.

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