My Daughter Elisabeth

ca. 1914

Frank Weston Benson American, 1862-1951

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Benson’s portrait of his eldest daughter, Elisabeth, eloquently summarizes the artist’s interests during the early twentieth century—the exploration of outdoor light and the depiction of lively, radiant, young womanhood. Although Benson used a camera in his working process, he idealized his subjects when he transferred them to canvas. The images of his daughters in outdoor light remain the quintessential vision of American womanhood at the turn of the century.

Title My Daughter Elisabeth

Artwork Date ca. 1914

Artist Frank Weston Benson

Life Dates 1862-1951

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 44 × 37 inches (111.8 × 94 cm) Framed: 55 3/8 × 44 3/8 × 4 inches (140.7 × 112.7 × 10.2 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Detroit Museum of Art Purchase, Special Membership and Donations Fund with contributions from Philip, David and Paul R. Gray, and their sister Mrs. William R. Kales

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 16.31

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left corner: F. W. Benson

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

until 1916, the artist, Frank Weston Benson

1916-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Burroughs, Clyde. “Annual Exhibition.” Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art, 10, 8 (April 1916): p. 9.

______________. “The Second Annual Exhibition.” Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art 10, 9 (May 1916): pp. 3, 14 (ill.).

______________. “A Painting by Frank W. Benson.” Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art 11, 2-3 (November-December 1916): pp. 19-20 (ill.).

Second Annual Exhibition of Painting by American Artists. Exh. cat., Detroit Museum of Art. Detroit, 1916, pp. 6-7 (ill.).

American Beauty: Paintings and Sculpture from the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1770-1920. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 2001, no. 73, pp. 99-100.

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Frank Weston Benson, My Daughter Elisabeth, ca. 1914, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Museum of Art Purchase, Special Membership and Donations Fund with contributions from Philip Gray, et al., 16.31.