Art Institute of Chicago

The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise

Benjamin West (American, active England, 1738-1820)

Date

1791, retouched 1803

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

England

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This tumultuous scene shows Adam and Eve, the first man and woman in the Hebrew Bible, being driven out of the Garden of Eden. Benjamin West created it as a preparatory sketch for one of several large paintings intended for a chapel in Windsor Castle, an ancient seat of the British monarchy that was undergoing restoration in the late 18th century. West worked on the project for two decades, but King George III abandoned plans for the chapel’s decoration and the paintings were never installed. One of the earliest American artists to achieve international renown, West spent much of his career in London. There, he served as a teacher and mentor to a generation of younger American artists who trained abroad, including Rembrandt Peale and Thomas Sully .

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