Interiors and still lifes by Frank Weston Benson includes oil and watercolor paintings and a couple of etchings made by Frank Weston Benson. He also made portraits, waterscapes, wildlife, landscapes, and other works of art.

While Benson's works of interior settings and still lifes were limited in comparison to other compositions or settings, he exhibited expertise at capturing light and shadow of interior spaces.

Benson painted a series of true still lifes about 1919. In these arrangements, he gathered objects from his seafaring ancestors' trips to the Orient: porcelain, candlesticks, oriental screens, and embroidered silk tablecloths. He arranged and rearranged them to create interesting compositions.Bedford, Benson Biography. Whatever the subject matter, Benson always sought a "harmonious arrangement."Bedford, 36. He said to his daughter Eleanor, "A picture is merely an experiment in design. If the design is pleasing, the picture is good, no matter whether composed of objects, still life, figures or birds. Few appreciate that what makes them admire a picture is the design made by the painter."

After a day of hunting, Benson brought home a rail and snipe and hammered them to the barn door. He found that he was interested in capturing the two birds and made oil paintings of each.Bedford, 17. Although he was a teenager, he had an exceptional grasp of light and its effects. Rail, one of Benson's earliest paintings, was made when he was 16Peabody Essex Museum, Interactive Presentation, Benson Timeline. and his goal was to become an ornithological illustrator.Bedford, 10.

In Firelight, Benson depicts a woman wearing a white dress in an interior setting. Her left arm is outstretched and to the right is a large vase. It won an award with a cash prize that allowed Benson to realize a lifelong dream, a hunting cabin, which he purchased with two of his brothers-in-law.Bedford, 25.

Works TitleImageMediumYearCollectionComments and SIRIS IDRail oil on board1878–1879 Private collection18 in x 12.3 in (45.7 cm x 31.2 cm), SIRIS Control Number 8A220023 By Firelight oil on canvas1889 40 in x 31 in (101.6 cm x 78.7 cm). Scene: Red interior with woman seated in dark on chair in front of lit fireplace. SIRIS Control Number 23570017 Firelight oil on canvas1893Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York40 in x 30 in (101.6 cm x 76.2 cm) SIRIS Control Number 89170058Examining the Lace(or Woman Admiring Lace)oil on canvas 1910 30 in x 25 in (76.2 cm x 63.5 cm) Scene: interior with female figure seated in armchair, facing viewer, holding piece of lace; fireplace at right. SIRIS Control Number 89180001Figure in a Room(or Interior?)oil on canvas1912Peabody Essex Museum,Salem, MA30 in x 25.1 in (76.2 cm x 63.8 cm). Benson received the statue of Artemis depicted in Figure in a Room from his friend, Bela Pratt, who was an instructor with Benson at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Peabody Essex Museum, Interactive Presentation, Gallery. SIRIS Control Number 07130294 The Grey Room (or Grey Room(or The Gray Room)oil on canvas1913 25.3 in x 30.8 in (64.3 cm x 78.2 cm) Scene: dark interior with woman reading by yellow glow. SIRIS Control Number 13730490The Seamstress oil on canvas1913 36 in x 26 in (91.4 cm x 66 cm) Scene: dark interior with woman sewing by light from window.Candlelight etching on Shogun paper/print 1915Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA;Mead Art Museum, Amherst College,Amherst, MA9.9 in x 7.9 in (25.1 cm x 20.1 cm) Scene: female figure fixes hair in mirror by candlelight.Nasturtiums in a Vase 1919 Nasturtiums in a Vase is one of the more than thirty still lifes Benson completed in oil and watercolor.The Dining Room Table oil on canvasc. 1919Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA32.1 in x 39.9 in (81.5 cm x 101.3 cm) Scene: still life with a parrot perched on a bowl of fruit. SIRIS Control Number 29830008The Silver Screen oil on canvas 1921 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA36.3 in x 44.1 in (92.2 cm x 112 cm) Of painting interior spaces and still lifes, such as The Silver Screen, Benson said, "Don't paint things... Don't paint anything but the effect of light."Peabody Essex Museum, Exhibition. SIRIS Control Number 20492455Still Life Decoration oil on canvas tacked over board192245 in x 60 in (114.3 cm x 152.4 cm) Scene: still life with bowl of fruit, statuary, and candlestick on cloth-draped table in front of silver screen. SIRIS Control Number 89170076Still Life with Flowers watercolor on paper1922 19 in x 15 in (48.3 cm x 38.1 cm) Scene: still life of clear pitcher with flowers.Pewter Pitcher Online imagePewter Pitcher. Art Institute of Chicago Retrieved 2014-03-31. watercolor/gouache/graphite on paper laid down on board1923Art Institute of Chicago,Chicago, IL21 in x 14.4 in (53.3 cm x 36.6 cm) Scene: arrangement of pewter pitcher of flowers and plates.Peonies in Blue China Online imagePeonies in Blue China oceansbridge.com Retrieved 2014-03-31.watercolor on paper1923Private collection25 in x 19 in (63.5 cm x 48.3 cm) Scene: light-colored flowers in blue/white porcelain jug set against floral wallpaper background; red/pink flowers at left. SIRIS Control Number 8A220007The Waterlilies(or The Water Lilies) Online imageThe Waterlilies .encore-editions.com Retrieved 2014-03-31.watercolor on paper1923 17 in x 21 in (43.2 cm x 53.3 cm)Nasturtiums in a Flowered Vase(or Nasturtiums in a Vase) watercolor on paperc. 1926 21.8 in x 17.6 in (55.4 cm x 44.7 cm) Nasturtiums in a Vase in one of the more than thirty still lifes Benson completed in oil and watercolor. SIRIS Control Number 61070671Still Life Online imageStill Life. museumsyndicate.com Retrieved 2014-03-31.oil on canvasc. 1926Terra Foundation for American Art,Chicago, IL45.3 in x 60.3 in (115.1 cm x 153.2 cm) Still life: several objects on table; porcelain bowl with fruit, vase of flowers, candlesticks, bird. Benson choose and varied placement of items in his collection to create interesting and harmonious compositions. The silver screen used in this painting was also used in the painting The Silver Screen at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Still Life was winner of the "Henry Ward Ranger Fund prize." SIRIS Control Number 08580001Still Life Online imageStill Life. kramerfineart.com Retrieved 2014-03-31.etching/lithograph1927 15.1 in x 12 in (38.4 cm x 30.5 cm) Scene: still life with flowers in jug next to small pewter pitcher.Fisherman's Bedroom, Eastham, Massachusetts Online imageFisherman's Bedroom, Eastham, Massachusetts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved 2014-03-31.watercolor on paperc. 1929Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,Boston, MA16.8 in x 22 in (42.7 cm x 55.9 cm) Scene: interior depicting unmade bed with rumpled brown blanket/white sheets; bedside table with oil lamp/hat/necktie. SIRIS Control Number 20493118Still Life, Azaleas Online imagePeabody Essex Museum, Gallerywatercolor on paper1934Stephen Phillips Memorial Trust House,Salem, MA21 in x 28 in (53.3 cm x 71.1 cm) Still life: oriental figurine of woman in red robes and 2 pots of azaleas with pink blossoms on patterned cloth set in an interior. Mrs. Stephen Phillips, a new neighbor, visited Benson's Chestnut Street, Salem home for tea. She mentioned that she enjoyed the painting and Benson gave it to her as a gift. SIRIS Control Number 8A220009Still Life Online imageStill Life. museumsyndicate.com Retrieved 2014-03-31.oil on canvas1936 30 in x 50 in (76.2 cm x 127 cm) Still life: several objects on table; bowls/platters with fruit, pitcher of water/liquid, candlesticks. SIRIS Control Number 89170026Candelight Online imageCandelight Search Collections. legionofhonor.famsf.org Retrieved 2014-03-31.etching Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, California Palace of the Legion of Honor,San Francisco, CA25.1 in x 20 in (63.8 cm x 50.8 cm)

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