Painted in 1895, My Little Girl is a striking depiction of Benson’s firstborn child, Eleanor, who would eventually appear in at least sixteen canvases over the course of his career. Her steady gaze immediately engages the viewer, as does her stark white dress, glowing against the shadowy room beyond and rendered with ruffled accents echoing the curved sweep of her hair. Like the dozing cat standing stoically by her side, five-year-old Eleanor betrays none of the restlessness one might expect of a child asked to remain still for her artist father, and for this reason she became one of Benson’s favorites of his ‘homegrown models.’

My Little Girl was shown at several venues in 1896, beginning with the Boston Art Club’s 53rd Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture in January, where it was awarded third prize, a $1,000 monetary value, which was a godsend for Benson. In a letter to his friend Julian Alden Weir, who won first prize and with it $2,500, the artist wrote, “Truly – old man – I congratulate you with all my heart and I hope you take as much satisfaction in it as I do mine…I never needed it so much in my life.” A local art critic for the Boston Sunday Herald was just as pleased by the painting as the awards committee, noting: “Mr. Benson’s picture is a delightful portrait of a little girl, dressed in a white frock, and perched demurely on a low stool. Beside her is a very nice little cat, altogether a merry and comical little beast. It is not a hard prediction to say that popularly Mr. Benson’s will be better liked than those of the other two prize winners.”

More information about this painting...

Provenance:

By descent through the family of the artist to the collection of his great-granddaughter, private collection, Maine

Inscription:

(number in black marker on top of stretcher) K12041

Labels:

(on frame) Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York / Frank W. Benson: A Retrospective / May 17 – June 24, 1989 / 9. My Litte Girl 1895 / Oil on canvas / Private collection

Literature:

1. Boston Sunday Herald, January 12, 1896 (illus. p. 24)
2. Cincinnati Museum exhibition catalogue, 1896 (illus.)
3. Bedford, Faith Andrews, Bruce Chambers, and Susan Faxon. Frank W. Benson: A Retrospective. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, 1989 (illus. no. 9)
4. Bedford, Faith Andrews. Frank W. Benson, American Impressionist. New York: Rizzoli, 1994 (illus. p. 68, plate 36)

Exhibitions:

1. 53rd Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture, Boston Art Club, January 13 – February 15, 1896, No. 39. My Little Girl (*awarded Third Prize, $1,000)
2. Spring Exhibition, Cincinnati Museum, Ohio, May 16 – June 30, 1896, No. 7 My Little Girl (illus. in catalogue)
3. 66th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, December 21, 1896 – February 22, 1897, No. 19 My Little Girl
4. 19th Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Artists, held at the American Fine Arts Society, New York, March 28 – May 1, 1897, No. 304 My Little Girl
5. Frank W. Benson: A Retrospective, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, May 17 – June 24, 1989 (illus. plate 9)