Year 1784 (1784) Created 1784 | ||
 | ||
Dimensions 71 cm × 94 cm (28 in × 37 in) Benjamin West artwork John Eardley Wilmot, Fidelia and Speranza, Woodcutters in Windsor Park | ||
The Portrait of Dr Richard Price, is an oil on canvas by the American painter Benjamin West from 1784.
Contents
Description
The picture were sold at Christie's on 23 Novembers 2004 and purchased by the Friends of the National Library.
The picture has dimensions 28 x 37 inches.
Analysis
Richard Price was a radical and author. The portrait illustrates Price sitting in his office reading a letter from his friend, the American Benjamin Franklin, with the date 1784 on it.
Price recorded this event his diary, that is available today, like the picture itself, in the collection of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. This is the official portrait, but there are two similar copies, perhaps studies for this picture: in the Wales National Museum, and the Royal Cymdeithas Hall, London.
The artist
West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania He travelled and made many portraits, and was called "the American Raphael". He died at Newman Street, on 11 March 1820. He was buried at Saint Paul's Cathedral.