George Frederick Bensell
Encyclopedia
George Frederick Bensell (January 10, 1837 – May 26, 1879) was an American
artist
and illustrator, usually known as George Bensell, G. F. Bensell or George F. Bensell. He is best known for his paintings and role in forming the Philadelphia Sketch Club
.
, the son of Edmund Shippen Bensell and Margaret (Sperry) Bensell. His younger brother was artist Edmund Birckhead Bensell
. As an adult he lived in the Mount Airy
neighborhood of Philadelphia. Bensell married, June 7, 1871, Josephine Crissman, of Milford
, Pennsylvania
. They had three children, Paul, Sperry, and Grace Bensell, all of whom died young. He died at the age of forty-two in Philadelphia. After the deaths of her children and husband Josephine returned to Milford, where after two decades of widowhood she married J. C. Westbrook in 1900. She died after a brief illness in October, 1907.
As an artist Bensell was primarily a painter, specializing in portraits, landscapes, historical and "poetical genre" subjects for a wealthy clientelle. His secondary occupation was that of illustrator in the magazines and books of his day, in which he often collaborated with his brother.
In 1860, while still students, the two brothers joined with four other students to form the Philadelphia Sketch Club
, one of America's oldest existing artists' clubs. It first met in Bensell's Philadelphia studio. A life-long member, he served as its first president. and held the office on two later occasions as well. The brothers' enthusiastic abolitionist feelings influenced its early political sentiments, and many of their early sketches were published in its popular publication, the Sketch Club Portfolio.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and illustrator, usually known as George Bensell, G. F. Bensell or George F. Bensell. He is best known for his paintings and role in forming the Philadelphia Sketch Club
Philadelphia Sketch Club
The Philadelphia Sketch Club, founded on November 20, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of America’s oldest artists' clubs. The club's own web page proclaims it the oldest. Prominent members have included Joseph Pennell, Thomas Eakins, Howard Chandler Christy, and N.C...
.
Life and family
Bensell was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the son of Edmund Shippen Bensell and Margaret (Sperry) Bensell. His younger brother was artist Edmund Birckhead Bensell
Edmund Birckhead Bensell
Edmund Birckhead Bensell was an American artist and illustrator, usually known as E. B. Bensell. While an accomplished painter, he is best known for his ink drawings, particularly his illustrations for Charles F...
. As an adult he lived in the Mount Airy
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mount Airy is a neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania.-Boundaries:Mount Airy is bounded on the northwest by the Cresheim Valley, which is part of Fairmount Park. Beyond this lies Chestnut Hill. On the west side is the Wissahickon Gorge, which is also part of Fairmount...
neighborhood of Philadelphia. Bensell married, June 7, 1871, Josephine Crissman, of Milford
Milford, Pennsylvania
Milford is a borough in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat. Its population was 1,021 at the 2010 census. It was founded in 1796 by Judge John Biddis, one of the state's first four circuit judges, who named the settlement after his ancestral home in Wales.Milford has a...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. They had three children, Paul, Sperry, and Grace Bensell, all of whom died young. He died at the age of forty-two in Philadelphia. After the deaths of her children and husband Josephine returned to Milford, where after two decades of widowhood she married J. C. Westbrook in 1900. She died after a brief illness in October, 1907.
Career
Bensell initially studied with the artist John L. Lambdin; he and his brother Edmund also both attended and graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Afterwards he was named an Academician and was an instructor there.As an artist Bensell was primarily a painter, specializing in portraits, landscapes, historical and "poetical genre" subjects for a wealthy clientelle. His secondary occupation was that of illustrator in the magazines and books of his day, in which he often collaborated with his brother.
In 1860, while still students, the two brothers joined with four other students to form the Philadelphia Sketch Club
Philadelphia Sketch Club
The Philadelphia Sketch Club, founded on November 20, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of America’s oldest artists' clubs. The club's own web page proclaims it the oldest. Prominent members have included Joseph Pennell, Thomas Eakins, Howard Chandler Christy, and N.C...
, one of America's oldest existing artists' clubs. It first met in Bensell's Philadelphia studio. A life-long member, he served as its first president. and held the office on two later occasions as well. The brothers' enthusiastic abolitionist feelings influenced its early political sentiments, and many of their early sketches were published in its popular publication, the Sketch Club Portfolio.
General references
- Ask/Art Academic entry
- Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. Who Was Who in American Art: 400 years of artists in America. 2d. ed. 3 vols. Madison, Conn.: Sound View Press, 1999.
- Groce, George C., and Wallace, David H. The New-York Historical Society'sNew-York Historical SocietyThe New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library located in New York City at the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. Founded in 1804 as New York's first museum, the New-York Historical Society presents exhibitions, public programs and research that...
Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564- 1860. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1957. - Hotchkin, Samuel Fitch. Ancient and Modern Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill. Philadelphia: P. W. Ziegler & Co., 1889, pp. 101–102 (sketch on grandfather, Dr. Charles Bensell).
- Philadelphia Sketch Club website (includes biographies on George F. Bensell and E.B. Bensell)
- Robeson, Susan Stroud, et al. An Historical and Genealogical Account of Andrew Robeson of Scotland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and of His Descendants from 1653 to 1916. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1916, pp. 146, 230.
- Samuels, Peggy and Harold. The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1976.