Telemachus and Calypso

c. 1809

Benjamin West

Painter, American, 1738 - 1820

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 61

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly (the artist's estate sale, Henry J. and George Henry Robins, London, 20-22 June 1829, 1st day, no. 132, as Telemachus in the Island of Calypso, unfinished).[1] possibly Henry Corbould [1787-1844], in 1832.[2] (Mortimer Brandt [1905-1993], New York); acquired by Mrs. E. Lovette West [1885-1962, Bess Palmer West], Bronxville, New York; her daughter, Mrs. Robert A. Beyers [1906-1987, Bernice West Beyers], Chittenden, Vermont, and Dallas;[3] gift 1963 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] Several versions by West exist of this subject. This provenance is according to Helmut von Erffa and Allen Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven and London, 1986: 259, no. 183. The 1829 artist's estate sale was one of two sales held that year by the artist's sons, Raphael Lamar West (1769-1850) and Benjamin West, Jr. (1772-1848).
[2] Von Erffa's and Staley's catalogue (see note 1) suggested that if this was the painting lent by Corbould to an exhibition in 1832, it may have been completed either by him or by his son, Edward Henry Corbould (1815-1905), as both were artists. Another possibility was suggested by Dorinda Evans, Benjamin West and His American Students, exh. cat., National Portrait Gallery, Washington; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1980-1981, Washington, 1980: 147 fig. 111, 148, 187 n. 46, who wrote that the figures of Calypso and her companions appear to be by one of West's students.
[3] Mrs. Beyers, a sculptor, was a descendant of Benjamin West, although her exact line of descent has not yet been determined.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1832

  • Possibly [exhibition], Suffolk Street, London, 1832, no. 266, as Mentor and Telemachus.

1962

  • Loan to display with the permanent collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1962-1963.

1975

  • Seascape and the American Imagination, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 9 June - 7 September 1975, unnumbered catalogue, pl. II.

1978

  • The American Landscape Tradition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 31 January - 31 August 1978, unpublished checklist.

1980

  • Benjamin West and his American Students, National Portrait Gallery, Washingon; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 19 October 1980 - 19 April 1981, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 111.

1982

  • Americans and the Sea, Pensacola Museum of Art, 11 September - 31 October 1982, no. 37, repro.

1985

  • American Masterpieces from American Museums, Mint Museum, Charlotte, 1985-1986.

Bibliography

1966

  • Phillips, Dorothy W. A Catalogue of the Collection of American Paintings in The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Vol. 1: Painters born before 1850. Washington, 1966: 23, repro.

1975

  • Landgren, Marchal E. "American paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C." The Magazine Antiques(November 1975): fig. 6.

1976

  • Sellin, David. American Art in the Making: Preparatory Studies for Masterpieces of American Painting, 1800-1900. Washington, D.C., 1976: fig. 2.

1980

  • Evans, Dorinda. Benjamin West and His American Students. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Washington; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Washington, 1980: 93, 148, 153, fig. 111.

1986

  • Von Erffa, Helmut, and Allen Staley. The Paintings of Benjamin West. New Haven and London, 1986: no. 183.

2011

  • Cash, Sarah, ed. Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Washington, 2011: 324, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q46626424

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