Suzanne Benton Art

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers an...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers an...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. Carrie Chapman Catt, monoprint with Chine collé, 18 ¾ "x 12 15/16", 1992 (1859 – 1947) The women’s right to vote in the United States is owed largely to the efforts of Carrie Chapman Catt. Born in Wisconsin and educated at Iowa State, Catt left work as a high school principle and later as a newspaper editor to join the fight for women’s suffrage. Skilled as a lecturer, Catt rose rapidly to national leadership, succeeding Susan B. Anthony as president of the National/American Women’s Suffrage Association in 1900. Catt’s pressure on President Woodrow Wilson and her tireless work to secure state ratification, culminated in the Nineteenth Amendment’s adoption in 1920. Following suffrage work, Catt devoted herself to peace and disarmament issues, serving as chair of the Committee on the Cause and Cure of War. The Women’s Rights Historical Park exhibited the growing series in 1995 during the 75th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The Oberlin College...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. THE GAZE Monoprint with Chine collé, 13 ¼ x 10 inches, 1999 Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1879 –1958) Dorothy Canfield Fisherwas an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early 20th century. She strongly supported women's rights, racial equality, and lifelong education. Eleanor Roosevelt named her one of the ten most influential women in the United States. The Women’s Rights Historical Park exhibited Benton's growing series in 1995 during the 75th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The Oberlin College...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. The Spirit of Hope (Alice Paul) One of the prime dedicated vocal leaders of the women’s suffrage movement in the twentieth century, Alice Paul actively campaigned for the passage of the 19th Amendment...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers an...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. Susan B. Anthony the Elder, monoprint with Chine collé, 18 ½ x 13 ¼ inches, 2020 From Wikipedia Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who became her lifelong friend and co-worker in social reform activities, primarily in the field of women's rights. In 1852, they founded the New York Women's State Temperance Society after Anthony was prevented from speaking at a temperance conference because she was female. In 1863, they founded the Women's Loyal National League, which conducted the largest petition drive in United States history...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers an...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. Mary Church Terrell Life Cycle, monoprint with Chine collé, 27 x 20 inches, 2018 (1863 – 1954) Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Church Terrell was a well-known author and activist for equal rights. Terrell’s parents were freed slaves who grew to become financially successful. A part of a rising African-American upper middle class, Terrell used her position to campaign for racial equality and women’s suffrage. I In 1884, she graduated from Oberlin College...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. Anna Julia Cooper, monoprint with Chine collé, 27 x 19 3/4 inches, 2020 1858-1964 An educator, administrator, and social reformer, Anna J. Haywood Cooper was born a slave in Raleigh, North Carolina, and spent fourteen years fighting to gain access to Latin and Greek classes reserved for men at St. Augustine's Normal School and Collegiate Institute, from which she graduated in 1877. She married the Reverend A. C. Cooper at St. Augustine's, where each taught, but after his death in 1881, she began the second phase of her education at Oberlin. That year she joined Mary Eliza Church (Terrell) and Ida A. Gibbs Hunt in the "gentleman's" collegiate course and graduated in 1884. One of the pioneer African-American women who earned a B.A., she returned to Oberlin for an M.A. in Mathematics, which she received in 1887. Continuing her trailblazing for race and gender issues, Cooper wrote the feminist manifesto, A Voice from the South, spoke at feminist and educational conferences, and achieved many honors such as membership in the American Negro Academy. She was a leader in the National Association of Colored Women. Aligned with DuBois's philosophy, she spoke at the 1900 Pan African Conference in London, arguing for self-determination for African-Americans and an end to colonialism in Africa and apartheid in South Africa. Anna Cooper received a Ph.D. at the Sorbonne in 1925 after a decade of study while she also maintained a full-time teaching load. Her thesis was on French policies during slavery. She had been shaping Frelinghuysen University in Washington, D.C., an interdenominational Bible college, and became its president in 1930, at the age of 72. She died in 1964 at the age of 105. In preparation for this ongoing series the artist received images from Legacy Magazine’s photo archive of 19th Century women writers, understanding that she’d obtain permission from each source to use the photos in her artworks. Permissions were received and she began the series in 1992. The Harvard/Radcliffe Schlesinger library then offered Suzanne access to relevant microfiche images that were employed in subsequent works. In addition, the library exhibited the in 1992. The collector Vivien Leone purchased and donated one to the library, and the library subsequently purchased two more. The Women’s Rights Historical Park in Seneca Falls, NY, exhibited the growing series in 1995 during the 75th anniversary of women’s suffrage. The Oberlin College...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. Mary Church Terrell Over Time, monoprint with Chine collé, 27 x 20 inches, 2018 (1863 – 1954) Mary Church Terrell Life Cycle, monoprint with Chine collé, 27 x 20 inches, 2018 (1863 – 1954) Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Church Terrell was a well-known author and activist for equal rights. Terrell’s parents were freed slaves who grew to become financially successful. A part of a rising African-American upper middle class, Terrell used her position to campaign for racial equality and women’s suffrage. I In 1884, she graduated from Oberlin College...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. Antoinette B Blackwell in the Blue Circle, monoprint with Chine collé, 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, 1996 (1825 –1921) Reverend Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell graduated from the Ladies¹Department in 1847 and returned to Oberlin to take theology courses, having been denied the right to participate as a member of the Theological Department.  When she completed the course of study in 1850, she was also denied ordination and recognition at commencement, but in 1853 was ordained in her home church in Butler New York and, despite Oberlin Collége...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers and educators from the 19th century and beyond. These works embody the artist’s stellar theme of bringing past to present. The Suffragist (Alice Paul) One of the prime dedicated vocal leaders of the women’s suffrage movement in the twentieth century, Alice Paul actively campaigned for the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution...

Pioneer Activists is an ongoing series of artworks by Suzanne Benton. Consisting largely of monoprints with Chine collé where the artist references suffragists, feminists, writers an...

Suzanne Benton has been a working artist in a wide range of media for more than 60 years, with more than 150 solo exhibitions, 110 group shows, and two retrospectives of her multi-fa...

Suzanne Benton has been a working artist in a wide range of media for more than 60 years, with more than 150 solo exhibitions, 110 group shows, and two retrospectives of her multi-fa...

Suzanne Benton has been a working artist in a wide range of media for more than 60 years, with more than 150 solo exhibitions, 110 group shows, and two retrospectives of her multi-fa...

Suzanne Benton has been a working artist in a wide range of media for more than 60 years, with more than 150 solo exhibitions, 110 group shows, and two retrospectives of her multi-fa...

Suzanne Benton has been a working artist in a wide range of media for more than 60 years, with more than 150 solo exhibitions, 110 group shows, and two retrospectives of her multi-fa...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...

In 1972, the women’s movement was in full flower. Suzanne Benton had been an early activist, a founder and organizer of NOW Chapters, CT Feminists in the Arts, Women, Metamorphosis 1 (in New Haven, CT, the first women’s art festival in the USA). She'd already been creating metal sculpted masks and working with them in mask tale performances of Women of Myth and Heritage. Her inaugural performance of Sarah and Hagar n 1972 took place at Lincoln Center in NYC. Benton then became the artistic director and producer of an evening on Broadway, Four Chosen Women (performers included herself as mask tale performer, author Anais Nin, actress Vinie Burroughs and dancer Joan Stone). The evening took place at the Edison Theatre, November 22, 1972. While developing the evening on Broadway, Benton met renowned Swedish actress and Hollywood star, Viveca Lindfors. Viveca was then working on her solo performance, I AM A WOMAN, and was looking for a unique theatre set for the show. The happenstance that brought Viveca and Suzanne together. At that same time, recent travel to Macchu Picchu inspired her with the mountain’s great stones sitting on the edge of precipices. These vast stones led her to create welded steel Seated Sculpture Works. Viveca was intrigued by the concept and let her own imagination fly. Imagining a set of welded steel sculpture, she took the leap in commissioning Suzanne with complete faith in artist's ability to fulfill her mandate. Benton created groups of welded sculptures for two theater sets. Protection is one of three sculptures in first set created in 1973. Mother and Child, Pelvic Woman, Facing Each Other are three of five works from the 1974 second set. The first toured with her shows throughout the East Coast and into Toronto, Canada. The second set, created to nest together could travel as checked baggage for international and domestic airline travel. They flew to Denmark in 1980 for her performance at the UN sponsored 1980 Women’s International Conference, Copenhagen. In addition to creating the theatre sets, Benton mounted exhibitions of her masks and sculptures in the lobbies of theatres where she performed (NYC and Northampton). Continuing on with this theme, Becoming is her 1975 Seated Sculpture Work. The theatre sets were returned at the final end of its long run. These Seated Sculpture Works have often been featured in exhibitions, including both the 2003 and 2005 retrospectives. They are part of an oeuvre of 797 sculptures and masks. What attracted her to welded sculpture? This excerpt from her book, The Art of Welded Sculpture, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1975 speaks of its lure: "Early in my life, when I had decided to become an artist, I had had an inner vision of being able to hold the physical material of my art in such a way as to bring it into existence with my hands. In welding, I wear a mask, a heavy apron, and gloves. I heat the metal and make it bend so smoothly and gracefully; I cut the metal, rigid metal, into endless shapes; I join the pieces by causing them to flow together with the heat of the flame. Welding was a return to my adolescent vision. It was fulfillment. At that beginning time I felt that even if I went no further, this experience in itself gave me astounding satisfaction. It was as thrilling as the moment of birth. It was my birth." (Pelvic Woman and Protection are illustrated in the book): What began in 1965 became by 2017 an oeuvre of 797 sculptures and masks. The magic of the welding mask...

In 1972, the women’s movement was in full flower. Suzanne Benton had been an early activist, a founder and organizer of NOW Chapters, CT Feminists in the Arts, Women, Metamorphosis 1 (in New Haven, CT, the first women’s art festival in the USA). She'd already been creating metal sculpted masks and working with them in mask tale performances of Women of Myth and Heritage. Her inaugural performance of Sarah and Hagar n 1972 took place at Lincoln Center in NYC. Benton then became the artistic director and producer of an evening on Broadway, Four Chosen Women (performers included herself as mask tale performer, author Anais Nin, actress Vinie Burroughs and dancer Joan Stone). The evening took place at the Edison Theatre, November 22, 1972. While developing the evening on Broadway, Benton met renowned Swedish actress and Hollywood star, Viveca Lindfors. Viveca was then working on her solo performance, I AM A WOMAN, and was looking for a unique theatre set for the show. The happenstance that brought Viveca and Suzanne together. At that same time, recent travel to Macchu Picchu inspired her with the mountain’s great stones sitting on the edge of precipices. These vast stones led her to create welded steel Seated Sculpture Works. Viveca was intrigued by the concept and let her own imagination fly. Imagining a set of welded steel sculpture, she took the leap in commissioning Suzanne with complete faith in artist's ability to fulfill her mandate. Benton created groups of welded sculptures for two theater sets. Protection is one of three sculptures in first set created in 1973. Mother and Child, Pelvic Woman, Facing Each Other are three of five works from the 1974 second set. The first toured with her shows throughout the East Coast and into Toronto, Canada. The second set, created to nest together could travel as checked baggage for international and domestic airline travel. They flew to Denmark in 1980 for her performance at the UN sponsored 1980 Women’s International Conference, Copenhagen. In addition to creating the theatre sets, Benton mounted exhibitions of her masks and sculptures in the lobbies of theatres where she performed (NYC and Northampton). Continuing on with this theme, Becoming is her 1975 Seated Sculpture Work. The theatre sets were returned at the final end of its long run. These Seated Sculpture Works have often been featured in exhibitions, including both the 2003 and 2005 retrospectives. They are part of an oeuvre of 797 sculptures and masks. What attracted her to welded sculpture? This excerpt from her book, The Art of Welded Sculpture, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1975 speaks of its lure: "Early in my life, when I had decided to become an artist, I had had an inner vision of being able to hold the physical material of my art in such a way as to bring it into existence with my hands. In welding, I wear a mask, a heavy apron, and gloves. I heat the metal and make it bend so smoothly and gracefully; I cut the metal, rigid metal, into endless shapes; I join the pieces by causing them to flow together with the heat of the flame. Welding was a return to my adolescent vision. It was fulfillment. At that beginning time I felt that even if I went no further, this experience in itself gave me astounding satisfaction. It was as thrilling as the moment of birth. It was my birth." (Pelvic Woman and Protection are illustrated in the book): What began in 1965 became by 2017 an oeuvre of 797 sculptures and masks. The magic of the welding mask...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...

In 1972, the women’s movement was in full flower. Suzanne Benton had been an early activist, a founder and organizer of NOW Chapters, CT Feminists in the Arts, Women, Metamorphosis 1 (in New Haven, CT, the first women’s art festival in the USA). She'd already been creating metal sculpted masks and working with them in mask tale performances of Women of Myth and Heritage. Her inaugural performance of Sarah and Hagar n 1972 took place at Lincoln Center in NYC. Benton then became the artistic director and producer of an evening on Broadway, Four Chosen Women (performers included herself as mask tale performer, author Anais Nin, actress Vinie Burroughs and dancer Joan Stone). The evening took place at the Edison Theatre, November 22, 1972. While developing the evening on Broadway, Benton met renowned Swedish actress and Hollywood star, Viveca Lindfors. Viveca was then working on her solo performance, I AM A WOMAN, and was looking for a unique theatre set for the show. The happenstance that brought Viveca and Suzanne together. At that same time, recent travel to Macchu Picchu inspired her with the mountain’s great stones sitting on the edge of precipices. These vast stones led her to create welded steel Seated Sculpture Works. Viveca was intrigued by the concept and let her own imagination fly. Imagining a set of welded steel sculpture, she took the leap in commissioning Suzanne with complete faith in artist's ability to fulfill her mandate. Benton created groups of welded sculptures for two theater sets. Protection is one of three sculptures in first set created in 1973. Mother and Child, Pelvic Woman, Facing Each Other are three of five works from the 1974 second set. The first toured with her shows throughout the East Coast and into Toronto, Canada. The second set, created to nest together could travel as checked baggage for international and domestic airline travel. They flew to Denmark in 1980 for her performance at the UN sponsored 1980 Women’s International Conference, Copenhagen. In addition to creating the theatre sets, Benton mounted exhibitions of her masks and sculptures in the lobbies of theatres where she performed (NYC and Northampton). Continuing on with this theme, Becoming is her 1975 Seated Sculpture Work. The theatre sets were returned at the final end of its long run. These Seated Sculpture Works have often been featured in exhibitions, including both the 2003 and 2005 retrospectives. They are part of an oeuvre of 797 sculptures and masks. What attracted her to welded sculpture? This excerpt from her book, The Art of Welded Sculpture, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1975 speaks of its lure: "Early in my life, when I had decided to become an artist, I had had an inner vision of being able to hold the physical material of my art in such a way as to bring it into existence with my hands. In welding, I wear a mask, a heavy apron, and gloves. I heat the metal and make it bend so smoothly and gracefully; I cut the metal, rigid metal, into endless shapes; I join the pieces by causing them to flow together with the heat of the flame. Welding was a return to my adolescent vision. It was fulfillment. At that beginning time I felt that even if I went no further, this experience in itself gave me astounding satisfaction. It was as thrilling as the moment of birth. It was my birth." (Pelvic Woman and Protection are illustrated in the book): What began in 1965 became by 2017 an oeuvre of 797 sculptures and masks. The magic of the welding mask...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...

“I still look at and learn from the art of the past, and enjoy making interpretations of works which I admire.” Henry Moore Infanta, Floating Balance, Point in Time, and Visionary are monoprints with Chine collé from Suzanne Benton's Paintings in Proust series. This grouping also includes the dry-point etching with Chine collé. Infanta (edition of 10). The monoprints (unique prints) employ the collage technique, chine collé (glued paper). Collé papers are pre-inked and hand-painted. Dimensional printing plates emboss texture onto the prints. The plates are inked individually for each solo print. The images and collé papers are then laid onto the plate and adhere to the printmaking paper as the plate and paper run through the etching press. Other monoprint series have been devoted to Indian and Turkish miniature painting...