The Death of Procris
1770
oil
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
About the artist
1770
oil
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Death of Procris is a 1770 oil by Benjamin West, a Neoclassicism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows a scene of a woman dying. She's surrounded by people who seem upset. The artist added details to the painting over time, which is interesting because it shows how their ideas changed. The painting was worked on in two different years, 1770 and 1803. This means the artist had time to think about it and make changes. Check out the work of artist: Benjamin West.
Benjamin West (died 1820); by descent to his sons, Raphael Lamar West and Benjamin West Jr.; sold Robins, London, May 22–25, 1829, lot 63, to W. J. Ward for 34 gns [Von Erffa and Staley 1986 and Algernon Graves, Art Sales, vol. 3 (London, 1921), p. 329]. Mrs. Albert F. West, wife of the artist’s great-grandson; sold Christie’s London, March 18–19, 1898, lot 133. William O. Cole, given to the Art Institute, 1900.
London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1771, no. 214. London, West’s Gallery, 1822–28, no. 35. Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, 1933, no. 429, as Troilus and Cressida. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota, University Gallery, American Painting, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries, 1939, no. 42, as Troilus and Cressida. Saginaw, Michigan, Saginaw Museum, American Paintings from Colonial Times until Today, 1948, no. 67, as Troilus and Cressida.
“Benjamin West, Esq., President of the Royal Academy, Etc.,” in Public Characters of 1805 (London, 1805) p. 567. “Biographical Sketch of Benjamin West, Esq., President of the Royal Academy, Etc., Etc,” Universal Magazine 3 (June 1805), p. 531. Joel Barlow, The Columbiad: A Poem (Philadelphia, 1807), p. 453 n. 45 (list of West’s works). “A Correct Catalogue of the Works of Benjamin West, Esq.,” La Belle Assemblée, or Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine 4 (1808), suppl., p. 18. John Galt, The Life, Studies, and Works Benjamin West, Esq., President of the Royal Academy of London, vol. 2…
Read the full account in the museum source.
