Artist: Arthur Benjamins

[andy_b]

Have a fantastic print of Villenuve and Arnoux wheelbanging at Dijon in 1979 by Arthur Benjamins.

Anyone know if he still paints etc? He released (well someone did) about 10 of his prints in the mid 90's and they were all excellent,,,,then nothing

[Andrew Kitson]

Arthur did release some great work.
Unusually, he painted in enamels to give vibrant colours but I'm not so sure how 'light fast' they would be. I would like to see some of his 80s works to see how they have fared.
I last saw him at the Silverstone historic festival art exhibition in 2001. We had stands next to each other and had a lot of time to chat. He seemed a bit dis-illusioned and bored by it all and had changed his style to be a bit more impressionist, as had artist Simon Taylor who I also have not seen since then. Have not seen anything new by either of them. Arthur's publishing company was IIRC Bluebird productions. Perhaps there is something on the net - new stuff in other fields?

[Tim the Grey]

The Bluebird Cafe has a couple of his prints up for sale of Bluebird on Coniston, including that magical head on view he did.

I have a Benjamins of Villeneuve in a 126C2 sideways on the grass...

8^)

Sad to hear he's moved on.

Tim

[rotterdam1953]

Andy, despite what you may hear...I'm still about...as big and ugly as ever ;-)
Glad you like my work,

Arthur Benjamins

[Tim the Grey]

I am SO pleased you are still about...
Funnily enough, I have a signed print of Villeneuve/Arnoux on the wall that was being talked about this morning!

Many thanks for some great pictures.

[rotterdam1953]

Originally Posted by Andrew Kitson

Arthur did release some great work.
Unusually, he painted in enamels to give vibrant colours but I'm not so sure how 'light fast' they would be.

Andy, The worries you profess about my enamel paints are totally unfounded, they are the hardiest of materials and far more lasting than any of the other, more 'traditional' painting materials about.
My paintings that have been hanging in heavily smoked places are always cleaned with liberal application of soap and water and come out looking like new!!!
Try that with gouache or any other materials!

Arthur

[Andrew Kitson]

In that case I'll have to try enamels at some point Arthur. Great vibrant colours, thanks for the input. Do you use them on your new work? I'm still mostly with acrylics, sometimes oils, have not used gouache for many years.

[rotterdam1953]

Originally Posted by Andrew Kitson

In that case I'll have to try enamels at some point Arthur. Great vibrant colours, thanks for the input. Do you use them on your new work? I'm still mostly with acrylics, sometimes oils, have not used gouache for many years.

I remember the look on Michael Turner's face when I told him the medium I use. He confessed to never having used them on a painting before and who can blame him? It took me many years to understand that medium and I'm still learning. I still use enamels but I've augmented that with other, more solid paints that compliment each other perfectly.

[Peter Mallett]

Arthur.

Although I'm not at liberty to access the site, am I right in thinking your handle comes from the discovery of the Rubens paintings as described in the link?

http://www.jstor.org/pss/876366

No problem just interested really.

[rotterdam1953]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Arthur.

Although I'm not at liberty to access the site, am I right in thinking your handle comes from the discovery of the Rubens paintings as described in the link?

http://www.jstor.org/pss/876366

No problem just interested really.

Peter, if you are referring to my handle as 'Rotterdam1953' than I fear that Rubens has had no influence on any of my works. Although he painted many 'Rubinesque' ladies, my handle merely indicates my place and year of birth.
I went on that link and I was denied access too - not that I'll lose any sleep over that.