PLEIN AIR HERITAGE
Ben Benn (1884-1983) Given his interest in modern art forms like Cubism and Abstract Expressionism, it is a bit surprising that Ben Benn would paint an artist at work outdoors on the depiction of a nude model. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what he did with this imaginary scene, painted when the artist was 84 years old. It raises the question of whether Benn was watching another painter or remembering himself as a younger and more virile man who enjoyed painting nude models. Benn was a pioneering American modernist who never completely abandoned recognizable subject matter, even while he was being strongly influenced by abstract painting movements. His oil paintings were never completely non-objective during decades when there was a strong prejudice against any form of representation. Despite his independence, the artist was a…