Identifier: portraitsofgreat00benzrich (find matches)
Title: Portraits of great men and women of our time; with interesting testimonials by the most prominent art critics and leading men of intellect of France, England, Switzerland and America;
Year: 1917 (1910s)
Authors: Benziger, August
Subjects: Portraits
Publisher: (New York, Wynkoop Hallenberk Crawford Company
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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chine-made colors in collapsible tubes. The sketch was first carefully and completelydrawn, and then the first painting of neutralcolors was laid on, designating accurately themasses of light and shade—the chiaroscuro—theentire work. Then, after this was quite dry, thecoloring was laid on, glaze after glaze, until thesense of mere paint disappeared, and the fleshtints seemed soft and transparent as in life. Apicture so painted endures almost forever. There is no short cut to perfection by anjother route, and Benziger has never tried to findone. At the present time he is perhaps the mostdistinguished living exemplar of classical artand technique in portraiture. The world ofimportant people has a knack of finding outsuch men, and in consequence, J\Ir. Benzigerduring his long and laborious career has paintedthe portraits of no end of notabiUties—generals,ambassadors, princes, world-famous beauties ofhigh rank, and rulers, statesmen and industrialmagnates of high and far degrees. 16
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Portrait by A. Uenziyer THE LATE PORFIRIO DIAZFormer President of Mexico, who, though an exile, was anxious and broken-hearted over the con-dition of his country 17 Adept ill Portraying Women By some curious twist of talent, this master ofcharacterization in two dimensions is also adeptin j)ortrayinf; the peculiar charms of femininityand the grace and beauty of children. It was asa painter of womens portraits, in fact, thatBenziger iirst attained high reputation in hisParis studio where he began his artistic career ofindependent virtuosity thirty years ago. Reproductions in black and white of these()()rtraits fail to convey their indefinable charmof perfect modeling and brilliant coloring.Sometimes—as in the Brashear portrait—well-balanced accessories impart to the dull mono-chrome some of the warm, pulsing vitality of theoriginal, yet always there is some loss of thepainters thought. But the vivid characteriza-tion, revealing the inmost soul of the sub-ject, is as apparent here a

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