Impressionist Summers ─ Frank W. Benson's North Haven

A beautifully illustrated book devoted to Impressionist Frank W. Benson’s life and work in Maine, where he spent summers creating the sun-drenched paintings that define American plein-air painting. The summer of 2012—the 150th anniversary of Frank W. Benson’s birth—marks the opening of an exhibition organized by the Farnsworth Art Museum focusing on Benson’s life and work at his summer home on North Haven Island, at Wooster Farm. It was there that he painted almost all of his brilliant, light-filled Impressionist paintings, launched his prolific etching career, and began his highly successful watercolor period. Through paintings, both oil and watercolor, drypoints, etchings, and lithographs, many seen here for the first time, this volume illustrates the important ways in which life on North Haven affected Benson’s art. These works, as well as family photographs and new photographs of Wooster Farm taken specially for this book, present not only the art of an immensely talented artist but also an intimate portrait of a dedicated teacher and devoted family man.

Faith Andrews Bedford is a writer, curator, and expert on Frank W. Benson. In addition to numerous articles and essays on Benson, her books include Frank W. Benson: American Impressionist and The Sporting Art of Frank W. Benson.