Benjamin West and the death of General Wolfe

Magazine Antiques, Nov, 1996 by Alan D. McNairn

West was in part justified in believing that he had immortalized Wolfe. His grand history painting showing the English martyr's last gasp on September 13, 1759, at the instant of his victory over the French at Quebec, became the accepted visual record of the conquest of Canada and the archetypal image of virtue exemplified in patriotic heroism. The readily understandable picture possessed qualities of what a contemporary called "genuine historic spirit... lively and impressive instruction," and "dignity of sentiment,"(2) which were highly prized attributes of both visual and literary art among passionately nationalistic English consumers. The painting that shows what were considered the final moments in the struggle to free North America from French tyranny became the single most reproduced work of art in eighteenth-century England.

As he had anticipated, West received accolades for The Death of General Wolfe before, during, and after its public exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1771. He commemorated his achievement by painting a self-portrait with a sketching board on which was a design for the right-hand side of his famous composition [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE III OMITTED]. West considered his painting of Wolfe a "revolution in art,"(3) and credited himself with inaugurating a contemporary form of classicism in which the protagonists in a modern historical event were clad in modern dress. However, the success of his composition owed more to the immense popularity of Wolfe as a national hero than to the innovative character and artistic merit of the painting.

West painted a number of replicas of The Death of General Wolfe, the first of which was commissioned by George III.(4) An even more lucrative venture was an engraving of the painting to be issued in what was at the time the enormous number of twelve hundred impressions. A partnership agreement to this effect was signed on November 17, 1772, by the engraver William Woollett and the publishers and printsellers John Boydell and William Ryland to produce the print in co-operation with West.(5) A month later the partners advertised for subscriptions to the print at one guinea, promising to publish it on March 4, 1773.(6) In fact, it did not appear until January 1, 1776.

The publication was delayed for several reasons. Woollett was a notoriously meticulous and slow engraver, and West, rightly thinking that the reproduction would increase his reputation and wealth, was no doubt just as fastidious in correcting the seven proofs of the print. The partners could not have foreseen two other delays in their publication schedule. The first of these occurred when the printer, a Mrs. Hocquet, after pulling only a few proof sheets, left her young son alone in her shop. He sat on the press plank muttering, so it was said, "I could soon be the death of Wolfe," and "General Wolfe is dying, and I'll be damned if I don't kill him quite." With that he picked up a hammer and smashed it into the engraving plate, destroying Wolfe's face. On hearing the news, the devastated Woollett wept at having "his finest work destroyed."(7)

The plate was repaired by late November 1775, but again printing was halted after only a few impressions had been pulled. The interruption this time was caused by Woollett's appointment on November 27 as Engraver in Ordinary to His Majesty King George III. This title was potentially advantageous to the sale of the print, especially when combined with West's position as Historical Painter to His Majesty, so the lettering on the plate was recut to include the parallel titles.

The print [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE IV OMITTED] was at last delivered to its patient subscribers and was offered at a premium to those who had lacked the foresight to reserve a copy, and it was an instant success. The initial edition of twelve hundred seriously underestimated the market and the plate was put on press again and again.(8) The partners increased their profit by publishing on March 4, 1776, as a companion to the original print, an engraved key identifying six of the men pictured. According to a story told some years later, one of the partners solicited a payment of one hundred pounds from General John Hale to have his name attached to one of the six figures in the key. He refused, saying that he had been in the thick of the battle and not present when Wolfe died, thus contracting the popular notion that the mortally wounded Wolfe had selected Hale to hasten to England with the news of the favorable outcome of the battle.(9)

Woollett's contribution to commerce in English art was commemorated by Boydell, who commissioned West's American student Gilbert Stuart to paint the engraver's portrait [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE V OMITTED]. He is shown seated at a felt-covered table holding an engraving plate and an engraving tool. Behind him is his model, West's Death of General Wolfe, which Woollett regards in a mirror so as to cut the reversed image into his plate. Stuart's portrait was exhibited at the Incorporated Society of Artists in London in 1783, and as one reviewer of the exhibition recommended,(10) it was reproduced in an engraving of 1785 by Caroline Watson (1761-1814) that served as an advertisement for Woollett's most famous print.