Painting

Museum Object Number 1957.0856

Object Name

Painting

Title

American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain

Category

Paintings

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Benjamin West (Artist)

Creator Notes

Appointed historical painter to king in 1772, and surveyor of the royal pictures in 1790. Co-founded the Royal Academy in London and succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as its president from 1792 to 1820.

Date of Birth

10/10/1738

Date of Death

03/11/1820

Place of Origin

London, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1783-1820

Subjects

Portrait; Historical

Materials

Oil paint; Canvas

Techniques

Painted

Dimensions (inches)

28.5 (H) , 36.25 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

72.3 (H) , 92.07 (W)

Measurement Notes

H at proper right stretcher. W at bottom stretcher.

Object Description

Web - 04/28/2025

With this unfinished work, Pennsylvania-born expatriate Benjamin West commemorates a critical historical moment. Depicted are the American Commissioners charged with negotiating peace with Great Britain as the Revolutionary War drew to a close: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin, Franklin’s grandson and commission secretary. The canvas’ exposed ground highlights missing British Commission members Richard Oswald and Caleb Whitefoord alongside the Indigenous and enslaved peoples omitted in the 1783 treaty’s vision for the new nation. With its striking composition, the painting became a lasting symbol of American independence seen on 1983 bicentennial commemorative issue stamps.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Catalogue] The Royal Academy of Arts. 2024 Entangled Pasts: Art, Colonialism, and Change, 1768 - Now.
• Published: p. 83
[Book] Seeley, Samantha. 2021 Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States.
• Published: p. 58, fig. 2 (number misrecorded as 1957.0586)
[Catalogue] 2020 Recent Acquisitions.
• Published: p. 50
[Book] Lengel, Edward G. 2020 Colonial Williamsburg: The Story from the Colonial Era to the Restoration.
• Published: p. 103
[Book] Cooper, Wendy A. 2002 An American Vision: Henry Francis du Pont's Winterthur Museum.
• Published: figs. 2-3, pp. 155-7.
[Book] Richardson, Edgar P. 1986 American Paintings and Related Pictures in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.
• Published: no. 38, pp. 72-3.
[Article] Sweeney, John A. H. 11//1971 Paintings in the Winterthur Collection. Antiques. 100 (5): 758-767.
• Published: fig. no. 5, p. 762.
[Catalogue] Baum, Kelly, et al. 2016 Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible. 117; 327
• Published: p. 117 & 327
[Article] Van Buymbeke, Bertrand. 2014 La Guerre Qui a Fait L'Amerique. 16-20.
•
[Book] Herring, George C. 2012 From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776.
•
[Book] Peterson, Dennis. 2013 American Government.
•
[Electronic] Berger, Joachim, et al. 2014 Europaische Geoschichte Online (European History Online). Leibniz Institut fur Europlaische http://www.ieg-ego.eu/introduction-2010-en
•
[Other] National Building Museum. House and Home.
•
[Book] Bomford, David. 2014 Unfinished Paintings: Narratives of the Non-Finito.
•
[Book] Grossman, Loyd. 2015 Benjamin West and the Struggle to Be Modern.
•
[Book] Gelles, Edith B. 2009 Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage.
•
[Digital Medium] Twin Cities Public Television & WGBH. 2007 Alexander Hamilton.
•
[Book] Horton, Rosalind. 2010 Great American Documents: The Landmark Documents in Our History.
•
[Book] Jones, Jacqueline, et al. 2008 Created Equal: A Social and Political History of the United States, To 1877. 1.
•
[Book] Semkiw, Walter. 2006 Born Again : Reincarnation Cases Involving International Celebrities, India's Political Legends and Film Stars.
•
[Digital Medium] WGBH. 2008 We Shall Remain: Part II - Tecumseh's Vision.
•
[Digital Medium] The Discovery Channel. 2007 The American Revolution.
•
[Book] Hogan, Margaret A. & Taylor, C. James. 2007 My Dearest Friend: Letters of John and Abigail Adams.
•