BENJAMIN CHAMPNEY (AMERICAN, 1817-1907)

Benjamin Champney (1817-1907) is accredited with being one of the founding members of the 'White Mountain School' in American art, along with his contemporary John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872). Born in New Hampshire, Champney studied abroad and in Boston before returning to his home state in the early 1850s to develop his landscape painting.
Although better known for his romantic depictions of New England, the work offered here with its deftness of handling and simple subject matter, is evocative of his belief that art required 'care' and a return to nature in order to become a source of 'national greatness and pride'.