Władysław Teodor "W.T." Benda (15 January 1873 – 30 November 1948) was a Polish painter, illustrator, and designer.

Early life

The son of musician Jan Szymon Benda, and a nephew of the actress Helena Modrzejewska (known in the United States as Helena Modjeska), W.T. Benda studied art at the

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

College of Technology and Art in his native Poland and at the School of Fine Arts in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. He came to the United States in 1899, to visit his Aunt Helena, who then lived in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He stayed, and moved to New York City in 1902, where he attended the Art Students League of New York and the

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

School. While there, Benda studied under

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

and Edward Penfield. He joined the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

in 1907, the

Architectural League The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

in 1916, and became a naturalized American in 1911. He was also a member of the

National Society of Mural Painters The National Society of Mural Painters (NSMP) is an American artists' organization originally known as The Mural Painters. The charter of the society is to advance the techniques and standards for the design and execution of mural art for the enri ...

Personal life

He remained in NYC for the rest of his life. Benda married Romola Campfield, and they had two daughters, Eleonora and Basia, who were both artists.Biography of Władysław Benda at the Kosciuszko Foundation
/ref>

Work

Polish Army in France WWI recruitment poster

Starting in 1905, Benda was primarily a graphic artist. He illustrated books, short stories, advertising copy, and magazine covers for '' Collier's'', ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

'', '' Ladies' Home Journal'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

'', ''Theatre Magazine'' and many others. Many publishers regarded Benda as their go-to artist for his dependability and artistic abilities. In his time he was as well known as

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

, N.C. Wyeth or

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His career spann ...

. During the 1920s/1930s every publication sought the look of "the American Girl", but Benda's beautiful women were often exotic and mysterious, not homespun pretty like the girls of

Harrison Fisher Harrison Fisher (July 27, 1875 or 1877 – January 19, 1934) was an American illustrator. Career Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists.Harrison & Carrin ...

Howard Chandler Christy Howard Chandler Christy (January 10, 1872 – March 3, 1952) was an American artist and illustrator. Famous for the "Christy Girl" – a colorful and illustrious successor to the "Gibson Girl" – Christy is also widely known for his ico ...

. Benda was fiercely proud of his Polish heritage and became closely associated with the

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83% ...

cultural institution, The

Kosciuszko Foundation The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange. History The Polish American Scholarship Committee wa ...

(see below). During the two World Wars, he designed many posters for both Poland and America. Many of these posters advocated for relief efforts. He was honored with the ‘

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

’ decoration by the Polish government following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Kosciuszko Foundation: Wladyslaw Teodor Benda, Memorial Exhibition
/ref> Beginning in 1914, Benda was also an accomplished mask maker and costume designer. His sculpted,

papier-mâché upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...

face masks were used in plays and dances and often in his own paintings and illustrations. They were used in

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

s or

miracle play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represen ...

s in New York City at venues like the New York Coffee House. Benda also created the masks for stage productions in New York and London for such writers as

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

and Noël Coward. He became so well known as a mask maker that his name became synonymous for any lifelike mask, whether it was of his design or not. Benda also created "

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

" masks, which were more fantasy or caricature in nature. Benda created the original mask design for the movie ''

The Mask of Fu Manchu ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) is an American pre-Code adventure film directed by Charles Brabin. Written by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf and John Willard, it was based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Sax Rohmer (the sixth in the serie ...

'', which was originally published as a twelve part serial in '' Collier's'' from May 7, 1932 through July 23, 1932. The cover of the May 7 issue presented a stunning portrait by Benda. In the latter stages of his career, Benda spent less time doing illustration and more time making masks. Articles by and about Benda and his masks appeared regularly in many of the same magazines and publications that carried his illustrations. In the 1930s, he authored the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' entry on masks. He also wrote a book, ''Masks'', a study of his own designs and unique construction techniques. The

Polish Museum of America The Polish Museum of America is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown neighborhood of Chicago. It is home to numerous Polish artifacts, artwork, and embroidered folk costumes in its growing collection. Founded i ...

and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library possess collections of Benda's posters for the relief effort in Poland.

References

External links

* * *
''Farby, maski i wolność. Niepodległościowa twórczość Władysława Teodora Bendy''
(in Polish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benda, Wladyslaw T. 1873 births 1948 deaths Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Artists from Newark, New Jersey Students of Robert Henri American illustrators Artists from Poznań People from the Province of Posen Art Students League of New York alumni 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American male artists

Early life

Personal life

Work

See also

References

External links