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Frank W. Benson (1862–1951)
Portrait of Joseph Lindon Smith, 1884
Oil on canvas; 25 1/2 x 20 3/4 in. (64.8 x 52.7 cm)
Collection of Grant and Carol Nelson
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Benson and Smith (1863–1950) met in Boston and traveled together to France to study at the Académie Julian. This tender image shows Smith playing a banjo—a distinctively American instrument—and, perhaps lacking funds for recreation, entertaining himself and his friends in his Paris studio. Surrounded by tattered sketches and portfolios, Smith embodies the bohemian ideal of suffering for art.
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