Benjamin West, 1738–1820, American, active in Britain (from 1763)
Title:
The Death of Chatham
Date:
1778
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
28 1/8 x 36 1/4 inches (71.4 x 92.1 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund, in honor of Professor Jules David Prown
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2009.10
Gallery Label:
In 1778, the elderly Earl of Chatham spoke in the House of Lords denouncing those who would surrender the thirteen American colonies and accept their Declaration of Independence. Chatham had steered Britain to a resounding victory in the recent Seven Years’ War (1757–63) and was regarded as the architect of the nation’s new imperial prestige. He refused to contemplate severing the American colonies from Britain and see them become allied to France. Chatham’s collapse after speaking and subsequent death was almost symbolic of Britain’s own distress. This is Benjamin West’s detailed modello, when he toyed with the idea of a major painting to represent this dramatic moment in British colonial history. He ultimately abandoned the project and handed it to a fellow American, John Singleton Copley. West perhaps found the subject too awkward because he was balancing his own support of American Independence with a close friendship with George III. Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
