The Death of Nelson (West painting)

Painting by Benjamin West

The Death of Nelson

Artist| Benjamin West
Year| 1806
Medium| Oil on canvas
Dimensions| 182.5 cm × 247.5 cm (71.9 in × 97.4 in)
Location| House of Lords, London

The Death of Nelson is a painting by the American artist Benjamin West dated 1806.

In 1770, West painted The Death of General Wolfe. This was not an accurate representation of the event, but rather an idealisation, and it included people who were not present at the event. Nevertheless, it became very popular, and West painted at least five copies.[1]

In 1801, three years after the Battle of the Nile, West met Horatio Nelson, who told him how much he admired the painting of Wolfe, and asked why he had not produced any more similar paintings. West, who was at the time the President of the Royal Academy, replied that he had found no subject of comparable notability. Nelson then expressed the desire that he would be the subject of West's next similar painting. In 1805, Nelson was killed in the Battle of Trafalgar and, within six months, West had created this painting. Again it proved to be popular. When West exhibited it in his studio, within just over a month it was seen by 30,000 members of the public.[2]

Again it was an idealisation of the subject. Although West took considerable trouble about the accuracy of details in his painting, basing the portraits on over 50 survivors of the battle, he produced, as he admitted himself, a picture "of what might have been, not of the circumstances as they happened".[2] West created two more paintings with Nelson as the subject, The Death of Lord Nelson in the Cockpit of the Ship "Victory" and The Immortality of Nelson, both of which are in the National Maritime Museum.[3] West displayed the original painting at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1811 at Somerset House.[4]

Other artists produced works depicting the same event. One of these was Arthur William Devis who painted The Death of Nelson, 21 October 1805, now also in the National Maritime Museum.[5] Another was The Death of Nelson by Daniel Maclise, a large wall painting in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster.[6] The finished study for this work is owned by the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, having been bought by the gallery in 1892.[7]

West's painting is in oil on canvas and measures 182.5 centimetres (72 in) by 247.5 centimetres (97 in). It was presented to the Walker Art Gallery by Bristow H. Hughes.[8]

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Death of Nelson.

1. ^ "A National Treasure in New Brunswick: James Barry's The Death of General Wolfe - The Phenomenon". New Brunswick Museum. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
2. ^ a b "Artwork of the Month, October 2005". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
3. ^ "Pictures by Benjamin West". National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
4. ^ Hoock, Holger. Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750–1850. Profile Books, 2010. p.157
5. ^ "Trafalgar". National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
6. ^ "'The Death of Nelson' by Daniel Maclise". Explore Parliament. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
7. ^ "Artwork of the Month - October 2000". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
8. ^ The Walker Art Gallery. London: Scala. 1994. p. 56\. ISBN 1-85759-037-6.

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Benjamin West

Paintings|

* Portrait of Robert Monckton (1763)
* General Johnson Saving a Wounded French Officer from the Tomahawk of a North American Indian (1764–1768)
* Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus (1768)
* The Departure of Regulus (1769)
* The Death of General Wolfe (1770)
* The Oath of Hannibal (1770)
* Penn's Treaty with the Indians (1771–1772)
* The Death of Chevalier Bayard (1772)
* Portrait of Joseph Banks (1772)
* The Wife of Arminius Brought Captive to Germanicus (1773)
* Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye (Captain David Hill) (1776)
* Fidelia and Speranza (1776)
* Helen Brought to Paris (1776)
* The Battle of the Boyne (1778)
* The Battle of La Hogue (1778)
* Portrait of George III (1779)
* Portrait of Queen Charlotte (1779)
* Oliver Cromwell Dissolving the Long Parliament (1782)
* Treaty of Paris (1783)
* Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in the Year 1783 (1783–1811; lost)
* Portrait of Dr Richard Price (1784)
* Alexander III of Scotland Rescued from the Fury of a Stag (1786)
* The Institution of the Order of the Garter (1787)
* Edward III Crossing the Somme (1788)
* King Lear in the Storm (1788)
* Queen Philippa at the Battle of Neville's Cross (1789)
* Gentlemen Fishing (1794)
* Musidora and Her Two Companions (1795)
* Death on the Pale Horse (1796, 1817)
* Arethusa (1802)
* The Death of Nelson (1806)
* Portrait of Robert Fulton (1806)
* Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (c. 1816)

Related|

* Benjamin West Birthplace
* Square Tavern (boyhood home)
* Portrait of Benjamin West (Lawrence)
* Portrait of Benjamin West (Stuart)
* The American School
* The Royal Academicians in General Assembly

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