Benjamin West
Hampstead (recto); Foliage (verso)
1770s
Physical Qualities
Graphite, pen and black ink, and brush and gray wash on paper (recto); graphite (verso), Sheet: 175 x 232 mm. (6 7/8 x 9 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Stiles Tuttle Colwill, Lutherville, Maryland, in Honor of Frederick Singley Koontz, Chairman of the Board, 2011-2015
Object Number
2015.342
The group of drawings exhibited here demonstrates Benjamin West’s versatility as a draftsman in terms of media, scale, and subject matter. This composition depicts the town of Hampstead, located just north of London (now part of this city), which in the eighteenth century was known for the healing properties of the local spring water. West’s light touch in rendering the thatched-roof houses, trees, and grass—as well as the study of foliage on the reverse of the sheet—suggests that he made this sketch on the spot.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2015; Stiles Tuttle Colwill
Rena Hoisington, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "New Arrivals: Gifts of Art for a New Century," February 7-May 8, 2016.
Inscribed: Recto: at lower left, in graphite: "Hamstead"; Verso: at lower left, in graphite: "3/AH"
Markings: WM: partial eschutcheon
