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Benjamin West
1738-1820
Peter's Denial of Christ
Pen and brown ink, with brown and blue wash; over black chalk, with corrections in white opaque watercolor; on six sheets originally pinned together.
24 x 22 5/8 inches (610 x 570 mm)
Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Robert H. Charles.
1970.11:124
Notes:
Watermark: on each of the six sheets, "...iping 1813" and Britannia.
The inscription suggests that this was the last compositional sketch executed by West before his death.
Inscription:
Two sheets are signed by the artist in pen and ink, "B. West 1819". A third sheet is inscribed by another hand in pen and ink along the lower margin, "The last design by Benjn ["n" superscript] West-- / 1819-".
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. 107, repr.
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