America's most famous successful expatriate painter and described as the "father of American painting" (Zellman, 55) Benjamin West became the first American artist to gain international fame. He was known for his large-scale and realistic historical genre paintings.

West was born near Springfield, Pennsylvania, near the future location of Swathmore College. Supposedly, he first learned pigment making from local Indians. William Williams, an English portrait painter living in Philadelphia, was probably his first teacher.

West's father was an innkeeper, and as a youngster, West began sketching many of the people who passed through his home. As a teenager, he was painting portraits in Lancaster, Pennsylva...