This depiction of Shakespeare’s King Lear is representative of the variety of new subject matter that Benjamin West, among others, introduced into history painting. When West left Pennsylvania for Europe in 1760, he was the first American-born artist to train abroad. He spent three years studying in Rome and then settled permanently in London in 1763. He was quickly acclaimed for his ancient Greek and Roman subjects executed in a sober, neoclassical style, and he also became a popular portraitist. Appointed history painter to King George III, he served as president of the Royal Academy from 1792 until his death. Generations of aspiring American artists came to London to study with him, and his studio became known as the first American “school” for painters. His own history paintings ranged from traditional Biblical and classical subjects to near-contemporary events to literary themes taken from Shakespeare and more modern authors.
In this painting, West illustrated act 3, scene 4 of Shakespeare’s tragedy for John Boydell’s popular Shakespeare Gallery in London, which promoted interest in the playwright and in contemporary history painting. Rather than accept the begrudging hospitality of either of his two scheming daughters, King Lear takes leave of them to wander the moor as a violent storm rages and his own insanity begins to set in. Here, supported by the loyal Earl of Kent, Lear thrusts his body forward and flings his head back, with eyes lifted skyward. He curses both the storm and his offspring. At the right, the Earl of Gloucester’s son Edgar crouches half-naked and disguised as a madman. The Fool squats on the ground to the left at the foot of Gloucester himself, whose torch illuminates the disturbing scene. Levels of madness—innate in the Fool, feigned by Edgar, and encroaching upon Lear—are underscored by the fury of the storm.

King Lear marked a turning point in West’s work, a break from the restrained style that had established his reputation. Here, rather than a neoclassical, friezelike arrangement of a group of figures painted in a cool palette and bathed in a clear light, he expressed the pathos of the tragic story through the frenzied gestures and wild, windswept garments of his players. He heightened the effect by using theatrical color and dramatic contrasts of highlight and shadow. West’s new, dynamic approach makes a powerful emotional appeal to the viewer and anticipates the Romanticism of the next century.


This text was adapted from Elliot Bostwick Davis et al., American Painting [http://www.mfashop.com/9020398034.html], MFA Highlights (Boston: MFA Publications, 2003).

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