• Eugene Benson
• American, 1839-1908
• "Faun & Bacchante"
• Oil on Canvas
• 18 x 18 inches
• Signed lower left, circa 1870
• Price on Request

Eugene Benson lived an exotic and international lifestyle. He began his studies in New York at the National Academy of Design. It was not until much later that he became a member in 1963. From 1867 to 1868 he traveled to Paris, the Orient, Florence, Rome and Venice. During his career he exhibited in New York, London, Boston, Philadelphia and Paris. It is said that later in Benson’s career he became a writer on art. It seemed he was an extraordinarily talented man in many ways. Benson’s Faun & Bacchante is very much a neoclassical piece, primarily inspired by the work of Bouguereau who painted in a similar vein. The quality of the work is truly exceptional and rivals even the technique of Bouguereuau. The manner in which Benson has rendered the skin tones is delightful, and the viewer is invited into this roundel through the pleasing nature of the color palette. We have given this painting a circa date of 1870 because of a partially ripped label on the verso.