Benjamin West

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Benjamin West
1738-1820
Dancing Girl with a Veil
Pen and brown ink over black chalk, laid down; border in gray wash on old mat.
5 1/8 x 3 3/4 inches (131 x 96 mm)
Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Robert H. Charles.
1970.11:220
Notes: 

This figure can be identified as Terpsichore, the muse of the dance, and may have been drawn for the title page of "The New English Theatre" series.

Inscription: 

Signed in black chalk at lower right, "B. West".

Provenance: 
Estate of the artist; by descent; Harry Margary, the great-grandson of Maria West (daughter of Raphael Lamar West, and granddaughter of Benjamin West); Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London; from whom purchased 60 drawings, 17 June 1964, and 197 drawings, 15 February 1965, by M. Knoedler and Co., Inc.; from whom purchased 257 drawings by the Morgan Library in 1970.
Associated names: 

Margary, Harry, former owner.
Charles, Robert H., Mrs., donor.

Bibliography: 

Kraemer, Ruth S. Drawings by Benjamin West and His Son, Raphael Lamar West. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975, no. 11.

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