Hagar and Ishmael
Benjamin West
1776, reworked 1803
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
76 x 54 1/2 in. (193 x 138.4 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1923
Accession Number
95.22.8
Tags
AngelsBoysWomen
About the Artist
Benjamin West · 1738–1820
Benjamin West, born on October 10, 1738, in Springfield, Pennsylvania, emerged as one of the most influential painters of his era despite being entirely self-taught. Growing up in a Quaker family in colonial America, West displayed prodigious talent from childhood, creating portraits and religious scenes with materials gifted by local patrons. By his late teens, he had garnered enough support to t...