The Benjamin West Birthplace, also known as Benjamin West House, is a historic home located on the campus of

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

in Swarthmore,

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylv ...

. It was the birthplace of artist

Benjamin West Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as ''The Death of Nelson (West painting), The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the ''Treaty of Paris ( ...

(1738–1820), who was an influential mentor to a generation of American painters, including

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

and

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, military officer, scientist, and naturalist. In 1775, inspired by the American Revolution, Peale moved from his native Maryland to Philadelphia, where he set ...

. and His birthplace was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1965, and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1966. It presently houses the dispatch and offices for the college's

campus police Campus police or university police in the United States and Canada are Police officer, sworn police or peace officers employed by a college or university to protect the private or public property of the campus and surrounding areas and the peo ...

, along with a visitor information center.

Description and history

The Benjamin West Birthplace stands on the east side of the Swarthmore campus, just west of North Chester Road off Visitor Center Road. It is a -story stone structure, with a gabled roof pierced by two gabled

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

s on each side. The main facade is five bays wide, with a centered entrance sheltered by a gabled portico. The interior does not have any original 18th-century features, the building having been gutted by fire in 1874. At that time its interior was rebuilt, and an

ell An ell (from Proto-Germanic *''alinō'', cognate with Latin ''ulna'') is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", an ...

added to the rear. The house was reportedly built about 1724, when the area was still part of Springfield Township. Benjamin West was born in this house in 1738 into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family, but was himself an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

for most of his life. He was one of the first American-born artists to be trained in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and settled in England in 1763, where he embarked on a successful career as a painter, working primarily on commission to King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. He is important in the history of American art for his role in supporting the early careers of a number of Americans who achieved great success, including

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was an English-American portrait painter. He was born in England, became a naturalized American citizen in 1809, and lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including in the Thomas Sull ...

Rembrandt Peale Rembrandt Peale (February 22, 1778 – October 3, 1860) was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Peale's style wa ...

, and

, all of whom he supported both financially and logistically in their development.

References

External links

"Birthplace of Benjamin West, Artist, 1845"
at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Benjamin, Birthplace Birthplaces of individual people Houses completed in 1724 Houses in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Swarthmore College

Description and history

See also

References

External links