Frank Weston Benson (1862-1951)

Pintails, Frank W. Benson 1921

American impressionist Frank Benson was born in Salem, Massachusetts and studied art first at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and later at the Académie Julian in Paris. On returning to Massachusetts, he set up a portrait studio in Salem and also taught at the Museum School.

Benson is known equally for his classic portraits of women and families by the New England seaside and for his sporting art. His series of etchings depicting sporting scenes became widely popular in his lifetime and remains so today.

His close friend and regular hunting companion was Augustus Hemenway, husband of Harriet Hemenway, who founded Mass Audubon in 1896.

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