The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise
1791
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 186.8 x 278.1 cm (73 9/16 x 109 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CAB
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Avalon Fund and Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
1989.12.1
Art Historical Context
Benjamin West's *The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise* (1791) is a monumental oil on canvas painting, measuring 187 x 278 cm, that the dramatic biblical moment from Genesis when humanity is cast out of Eden. As a leading Anglo-American artist and second president of London's Royal Academy, West masterfully blends Neoclassical precision with emerging Romantic emotion, using the large-scale format typical of grand history paintings destined for public or institutional display. Painted during the Enlightenment era, when artists revived classical themes to explore human morality and divine...
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...