The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise

1791

Benjamin West

Painter, American, 1738 - 1820

In the left half of this horizonal painting, a winged angel gestures with arms raised over a man and woman being forced away from a bank of clouds set against a flat and barren landscape. The angel, man, and woman all have pale skin. The blond angel is dressed in a flowing white robe with coral-red fabric that hangs over one arm and billows behind. Kneeling in front of the angel, the woman wears a toga that appears to be made from an ivory-colored animal skin. Her long auburn-brown hair falls in waves around her shoulders, and she looks up to the sky, her mouth open. She kneels with her body facing our right, and she grasps the man’s right arm, closer to us. The man wears a chestnut-brown fur garment around his hips and he covers his face with his other hand. His brown curls and the animal skin blow in the wind. Gold and cream-white clouds envelop the angel to our left and give way to the shadowed landscape to our right. A dagger-like spear of light thrusts out of the clouds from above the angel, toward the man and woman. Thistles grow close to us in the foreground and, to our right, a striped serpent lifts its head and flicks out its tongue. A lion attacks two horses beyond the people, and in the sky above, an eagle swoops down on a heron. The navy-blue horizon line in the deep distance could indicate a body of water. Small patches of blue sky appear through breaks in the clouds.

Media Options

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By 1779, Benjamin West had conceived his life's "great work," intending to rebuild the Royal Chapel at Windsor Castle as a shrine to Revealed Religion. After sponsoring the elaborate scheme for two decades, George III abruptly canceled it in 1801. Though the overall project was abandoned, many individual paintings, including this nine–foot–long Expulsion, were completed.

The Book of Genesis does not state how the first man and woman were expelled from Eden, but artists usually portray the Archangel Michael as the agent of the Lord's wrath. The sinners wear fur robes because God clothed them in "coats of skins" so that they could stand unashamed in his presence. The serpent, now cursed among creatures, slithers away on its belly to eat dust. The sharp beam of light overhead refers to the "flaming sword" in Genesis.

West's Expulsion contains two motifs not found in Genesis or any traditional pictures of the theme: an eagle swoops upon a helpless bird, and a lion chases frightened horses. In general terms, such beasts of prey imply the destruction of harmony that resulted from Original Sin. Regardless of any further symbolism, West's artistic treatment foretells the new romantic style with its theatrical gestures, rich paint textures, and clashes of blinding light and shadowy darkness.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 296-297, which is available as a free PDF at https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Painted for King George III of England but never delivered;[1] ownership rights returned in 1828 by King George IV to the artist's sons, Raphael Lamar West [1766-1850] and Benjamin West, Jr. [1772-1848]; (sale, George Robins, London, 22-25 May 1829, 4th day, no. 154); bought by Smith, apparently for Raphael West;[2] (sale, George Robins, London, 16 July 1831, no. 40).[3] Private collection, Yorkshire, England;[4] (sale, Phillips, Son & Neale, London, 13 December 1988, no. 35);[4] (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London); purchased 27 February 1989 by NGA.
[1] The painting is listed in West's manuscript account for 1797 of works painted for George III, with the price of £525 (Historical Society of Pennsylvania), and in his 1801 account, printed as the first appendix to John Galt, The Life, Studios, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq., President of the Royal Academy, 2 vols. [reproduced, two vols. in one, as The Life of Benjamin West, Intro. by Nathalia Wright, Gainesville, Florida, 1960], London, 1820: 209, "The Account of Pictures painted by Benjamin West for His Majesty, by his Gracious Commands, from 1768 to 1780. A True Copy from Mr. West's Account Books, with their several Charges and Dates"; see Helmut Von Erffa and Allen Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven and London, 1986 286, and for a discussion of these accounts, 159-160, 579.
[2] George Robins, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Unequalled Collection of Historical Pictures, and Other Admired Compositions, the Works of the revered and highly-gifted Painter, the late Benjamin West, Esq., [22-25 May 1829], London, 1829: 46; Von Erffa and Staley 1986: 286.
[3] George Robins, A Catalogue of Nine Pictures, of the First Class; the genuine property of Mr. Raphael West, [16 July 1831], London, 1831: 7.
[4] According to the 1988 sale catalogue, the ancestor of this owner probably purchased the painting at the 1831 sale.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1791

  • The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, The Twenty-Third, London, 1791, no. 147, as The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, for his Majesty's chapel, Windsor-castle.

1821

  • West's Gallery, Newman Street, London, 1821, no. 47.

1822

  • West's Gallery, Newman Street, London, 1822-1828, no. 98.

Bibliography

1791

  • "The Exhibition of the Royal Academy for 1791." St. James Chronicle, or British Evening Post (30 April - 3 May 1791): 4.

  • "The Royal Academy. (Continuation.)" The Morning Chronicle (5 May 1791): 2.

  • "The Royal Exhibition." The Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser (31 May 1791): 3.

  • "Royal Academy Dinner and Exhibition." London Chronicle(30 April-3 May 1791): 423.

  • "Royal Academy Dinner and Exhibition." The Morning Chronicle, 2 May 1791: 3.

  • "Royal Academy IV." The Times (9 May 1791): 2.

  • "Royal Academy, Somerset-Place." The Public Advertiser, 3 May 1791: 2.

  • "Royal Academy. No. I." Evening Mail, 2-4 May 1791: 3.

  • "Royal Academy. No. I." Times (4 May 1791): 2.

  • "Royal Academy. No. II. Mr. West, Historical Painter to His Majesty." London Times (5 May 1791): 3.

  • "Royal Academy." Oracle, 3 May 1791: 2.

  • "Royal Academy. The Twenty-third Exhibition." Whitehall Evening Post (30 April-3 May 1791): 4.

  • "Royal Academy." Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser, 3 May 1791: 2.

1797

  • West, Benjamin. Manuscript account of paintings for George III. 20 June 1797. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

1805

  • "A Correct Catalogue of the Works of Mr. West." Public Characters of 1805. London, 1805: 560.

  • "A Correct List of the Work of Mr. West." Universal Magazine 3, no. 19 (June 1805): 527.

  • "An Account, delivered at the Desire of the Council of the Royal Academy, of the Great Historical Works painted for His Majesty by Benjamin West, Esq. President." Academic Annals. London, 1805: 66.

1807

  • Barlow, Joel. "Note 45 [list of works by Benjamin West]." The Columbiad. A Poem. Philadelphia, 1807: 431.

1808

  • "A Correct Catalogue of the Works of Benjamin West, Esq." La Belle Assemblée or Bell's Court and Fashionable Magazine 4, Supplement (February 1808): 14.

1820

  • Galt, John. "The Account of Pictures painted by Benjamin West for His Majesty, by his Gracious Commands, from 1768 to 1780." The Life, Studies and Works of Benjamin West, Esq. London, 1820: 209-218.

1821

  • A Catalogue of Pictures painted by the late Benjamin West, Esq....now exhibiting at No. 14, Newman Street. London, 1821: 18, no. 47.

1828

  • Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings by the late Benjamin West, Esq....now exhibiting at No. 14, Newman Street. London, 1828: 27, no. 98.

1975

  • Kraemer, Ruth S. Drawings by Benjamin West and his son Raphael Lamar West. New York, 1975: 32, no. 50, repro. plate 29.

  • Meyer, Jerry D. "Benjamin West's Chapel of Revealed Religion. A Study in Eighteenth-Century Protestant Religious Art." Art Bulletin 57, no. 2 (June 1975): 247-265.

  • Meyer, Jerry D. "The Religious Paintings of Benjamin West: A Study in Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Moral Sentiment." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1975: 284.

1977

  • Dillenberger 1977, 58-63, 133, 143, 193, 208, 233.

1983

  • Pressly, Nancy L. Revealed Religion: Benjamin West's Commissions for Windsor Castle and Fonthill Abbey. Exh. cat. San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, 1983: 15-25.

1986

  • Von Erffa and Staley 1986, 286-287, no. 232, 577-581.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 378, repro.

  • National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 218, repro.

1995

  • Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 334-340, color repro. 337.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 296-297, no. 241, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: B. West / 1791

Wikidata ID

Q20179891

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