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Benjamin West
1738-1820
Gnarled Tree Trunk
1784
Brush and brown wash, over black chalk, on brown paper; a strip of paper three inches wide was added by the artist at the bottom.
25 5/8 x 17 3/4 inches (650 x 450 mm)
Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Robert H. Charles.
1970.11:2
Notes:
This large finished drawing of a gnarled tree trunk can be related to two other drawings of the same subject at The Morgan Library (1970.11:5 and 1970.11:11).
Inscription:
Signed and dated in black chalk at lower left, "B. West 1784".
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. 174, repr.
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