Cupid, Stung by a Bee, Is Cherished by his Mother
1774
Artist, American, 1738 - 1820

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall (round): 121.92 × 122.4 cm (48 × 48 3/16 in.)
framed (round): 152.08 × 152.24 × 9.53 cm (59 7/8 × 59 15/16 × 3 3/4 in.) -
Accession
2014.136.93
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Agmondisham Vesey [1708-1785], Lucan House, Country Dublin, Ireland; by descent in the Vesey family; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 3 December 1926, no. 92); purchased by Walton. (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 25 March 1927, no. 95); purchased by Barclay; purchased by (Mortimer Brandt, New York); acquired by Mrs. E. Lovette West, Bronxville, New York, by 1950; her daughter, Bernice West Beyers [Mrs. Robert A. Beyers], Dallas; gift 1963 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1775
The Seventh Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1775, no. 335.
1966
Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 15 April-30 September 1966, unpublished checklist.
1976
Corcoran [The American Genius] Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1976, no checklist.
2004
Figuratively Speaking: The Human Form in American Art, 1770-1950, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2004-2005, as Cupid Stung by a Bee.
2005
Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 3.
2008
American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.
2009
American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June-18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.
Bibliography
2011
Carson, Jenny. "Benjamin West, Cupid, Stung by a Bee, Is Cherished by His Mother." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 52-53, 254, repro.
Wikidata ID
Q46625519