Artwork Information

  • Title:

    Swinging In

  • Artist:

    Benson, Frank Weston

  • Artist Bio:

    American, 1862–1951

  • Date:

    1927

  • Medium:

    Drypoint

  • Dimensions:

    7 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches

  • Credit Line:

    Wichita Art Museum, L. S. and Ida L. Naftzger Collection of Prints

  • Object Number:

    1943.10

  • Display:

    Not Currently on Display


About the Artwork

Benson was a member of the group of New York and Boston artists who exhibited under the name of The Ten American Painters (1897). The Ten were sympathetic to innovation, and all adopted in varying degrees aspects of Impressionist techniques and subjects.

By 1900 Benson became deeply interested in the art of etching. He devoted the print medium to his own private passion, which was hunting. Benson translated his first-hand observations of weather, natural setting, specific light conditions, and the movement of birds into deftly drawn, economical statements.

Impressionistic style is evidenced in Benson’s reduction of detail, the patterning of bird and foliage silhouettes against large areas of open space, and the softening of lines for atmospheric effect.