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{{short description|British sculptor (1795–1864)}}
'''William Behnes''' ([[1795]]-[[1864]]) was an [[England|English]] [[sculptor]] of the early [[19th century]].
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
[[File:Joshua Bates, Boston Public Library.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Bust of banker [[Joshua Bates (financier)|Joshua Bates]], by William Behnes]]
[[File:Memorial to Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Old Royal Naval College.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Sir Thomas Hardy by William Behnes in Chapel at Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College.]]
[[File:Major General John Thomas Jones.jpg|thumb|right|An engraving of John Jones's memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral, carved by William Behnes]]
[[File:Robert Peel statue, Peel Pk, Bradford-800.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Robert Peel]] in [[Peel Park, Bradford]]]]


'''William Behnes''' (1795 – 3 January 1864) was a British sculptor of the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib7_1206714146|title=William Behnes – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951}}</ref>
⚫
Born in [[London]], Behnes was the son of a [[Hanover]]ian [[pianoforte]]-maker and his English wife. His early life was spent in [[Dublin]] where he studied art at the Dublin Academy.


==Life==
⚫
After the family returned to London, Behnes continued his artistic training, studying at the [[Royal Academy]] School of Art from 1813. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in [[1815]], won several medals during the ensuing years, and then won a [[Society of Arts]] gold medal in [[1819]] for inventing an instrument to assist sculpture work, having by this time begun to practice successfully as a sculptor.
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2024}}
⚫
Born in London, Behnes was the son of a [[Hanover]]ian piano-maker and his English wife. His brother was [[Henry Behnes]], also a sculptor, albeit an inferior one. The family moved to [[Dublin]] and there William studied art at the Dublin Academy.


⚫
After the family returned to London, Behnes continued his artistic training, studying at the [[Royal Academy]] School of Art from 1813, under the tutorship of [[Peter Francis Chenu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/research/programmes/british-bronze-founders-and-plaster-figure-makers-1800-1980-1/british-bronze-founders-and-plaster-figure-makers-1800-1980-c.php|title=British bronze sculpture founders and plaster figure makers, 1800–1980 – C – National Portrait Gallery}}</ref> As a painter, he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1815 and won several medals during the ensuing years. In 1819 he won a [[Society of Arts]] gold medal for inventing an instrument to assist sculpture work, having by this time begun to practice successfully as a sculptor.
In [[1837]] Watts was appointed 'Sculptor in Ordinary' to [[Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]. His pupils included noted sculptors [[George Frederick Watts]] and [[Thomas Woolner]], and [[naturalist]] [[Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins]].


In 1837 Behnes was appointed 'Sculptor in Ordinary' to [[Queen Victoria]]. His pupils included noted sculptors [[George Frederic Watts]], [[Thomas Woolner]] and [[Henry Weekes]],<ref>{{cite ODNB |title = Stevens T. 'Weekes, Henry (1807–1877)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) |year = 2004 |url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28969 |doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/28969 | accessdate = 17 March 2008}}</ref> and [[natural history|naturalist]] [[Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins]].
⚫
He produced many busts of children, reliefs and also some notable church monuments and statues, including ones of Dr [[Churchill Babington]] in [[St Paul's Cathedral]] and Major-General Sir [[Henry Havelock]] (believed to be the first statue based on a [[photograph]], two casts were made - one is today situated in [[Trafalgar Square]], London, the other in Mowbray Park, [[Sunderland]]) and several of Sir [[Robert Peel]] (including ones situated in [[Leeds]], Peel Park in [[Bradford]], and at the police college in [[Hendon]] in north-west London). Other subjects included: [[Thomas Arnold]], Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]], [[Benjamin West]] and [[George Cruikshank]].


Despite huge success, being declared "superior to [[Sir Francis Chantrey|Chantrey]]" in bust portraiture, he could not manage his finances and was declared bankrupt in 1861. His final work, the [[Statue of Henry Havelock, Trafalgar Square|statue of Sir Henry Havelock]] (1861) in [[Trafalgar Square]], has the claim to fame of being the first known statue based purely upon a photograph of his subject.
Despite this success, he was financially inept and was declared [[bankrupt]] in [[1861]], and died in poverty.

It is likely that he was an alcoholic and also a gambler, and this was worsened by bankruptcy. He moved to "miserable lodgings" in Charlotte Street.

He was found lying unconscious in a gutter, with only three pence in his pocket, on New Years Day 1864 and died on 3 January in Middlesex Hospital.

He was buried in an unmarked grave in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]]. [[George Cruikshank]], who had known him, campaigned to raise money for a monument and to present a bronze bust of Behnes to the [[National Gallery]], but there was little progress and the campaign was abandoned.<ref name="auto">''Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660–1851'', [[Rupert Gunnis]]</ref>

In December 2016, a folio of 41 pages of Behnes' sketches (some double-sided) was sold at auction by Cuttlestones Auctioneers & Valuers at [[Penkridge]] in Staffordshire, for £2,200.<ref name="Cuttlestones-1">{{cite web|url=http://www.cuttlestones.co.uk/news/1211/Sketch+book+of+sculptor+William+Behnes+expected+to+fetch+%A31%2C000+-+%A31%2C500.htm|title=Sketch book of sculptor William Behnes expected to fetch £1,000 – £1,500|date=26 November 2016|publisher=Cuttlestones auctioneers and valuers|accessdate=2 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="Cuttlestones-2">{{cite web|url=http://www.cuttlestones.co.uk/salecatalogue/FA021216.htm|title=Fine Art & Antique at Penkridge Auction Rooms – lot 479|date=25 November 2016|publisher=Cuttlestones Auctioneers & Valuers|accessdate=2 December 2016}}</ref> It includes sketches of the Duke of Newcastle, Sir [[Thomas Gresham]], and Sir [[Robert Peel]].

==Works==
⚫
He produced many busts of children, reliefs and also some notable church monuments and statues, including ones of Dr [[William Babington (physician)|William Babington]] in [[St Paul's Cathedral]] and Major-General Sir [[Henry Havelock]] (believed to be the first statue based on a photograph, two casts were made – one is today situated in [[Trafalgar Square]], London, the other in Mowbray Park, [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]]) and several of Sir [[Robert Peel]] (including ones situated in [[Leeds, West Yorkshire|Leeds]], Peel Park in [[Bradford]], and at the Peel Centre in [[Hendon]] in north-west London). Other subjects included: [[Thomas Arnold]], Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]], [[Benjamin West]] and [[George Cruikshank]].<ref name="auto"/>

*Bust of [[Henry Earle]], surgeon, [[Foundling Hospital]], London (1817)
*Monument to John Tunno, [[St. John's Wood]] Chapel (1819)
*Bust of [[William Lister (physician)|Dr William Lister]] [[FRSE]] Governor of [[St Thomas' Hospital]] in London (1820)
*Monument to [[Joseph Nollekens]], Paddington Parish Church, London (1823)
*Bust of Joseph Marryat, St George's, Grenada, West Indies (1824)
*Bust of [[James Northcote]] (1825)
*Bust of [[Sir Isaac Coffin, 1st Baronet]], Athenaeum, Boston, USA (1826)
*Statue of the [[George_Wyndham,_3rd_Earl_of_Egremont|Earl of Egremont]], [[Petworth House]] (1826<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.publicsculpturesofsussex.co.uk/object?id=349|title=Public Sculptures of Sussex}}</ref>)
*Bust of [[Oliver Goldsmith]], [[Trinity College, Dublin]] (1827)
*Wax bust of Princess Victoria (Later [[Queen Victoria]]) (using her actual hair) (1829)
*Figures on the clock-tower at [[Buckingham Palace]] (1829)
*Monument to [[Andrew Bell (educationalist)|Dr Andrew Bell]], [[Westminster Abbey]] (1832)
*Monument to Admiral Sir [[Henry Blackwood]], [[Westminster Abbey]] (1832)
*Monument to John Woodhouse, [[Dean of Lichfield]], [[Stoke-on-Trent]] Parish Church (1833)
*Monument to [[Sir Henry Russell, 1st Baronet]], Swallowfield, Berkshire, (1836)
*Bust of [[Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet]], Royal College of Surgeons, London (1836)
*Statue of [[William Babington (physician)|William Babington]], [[St Paul's Cathedral]] (1837)
*Monument to [[William Praed]], [[Tyringham]] Church (1837)
*Bust of [[Queen Victoria]] (1837)
*Monument to [[Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet]], [[Crowan]], Cornwall (1839)
*Bust of [[Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet|Sir Thomas Hardy]], naval hero, Greenwich Hospital Chapel (1839)
*Statue of [[Henry Joy (judge)|Baron Joy]], Dublin (1840)
*The mare's head "The Queen of Beauty" as ridden by Lord Seymour (1843)
*Statue of Sir [[John Thomas Jones]], [[St Paul's Cathedral]] (1843)
*Statue of [[Sir Thomas Gresham]], [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]], London (1845)
*Statue of Sir [[William Follett]], [[Westminster Abbey]], (1850)
*Statue of [[Robert Peel]], Leeds (1852)
*Statue of [[Robert Peel]], [[Peel Park, Bradford]] (1855)
*Statue of [[Robert Peel]], [[Hendon Police College|Peel Centre]], previously [[Cheapside]] and [[Postman's Park]], Grade II listed, possible copy of the Bradford work (1855)<ref>{{NHLE|num=1249503|desc=STATUE OF SIR ROBERT PEEL, PEEL CENTRE|accessdate=4 February 2020}}</ref>
*Monument to Mrs Elsworth, [[Highgate Cemetery]] (1858)
*Statue of Sir [[Henry Havelock]], [[Trafalgar Square]], (1861) (plus a copy in Sunderland)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Art UK bio}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behnes, William}}
[[Category:1795 births]]
[[Category:1864 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century British sculptors]]
[[Category:19th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[Category:English male sculptors]]
[[Category:English people of German descent]]
[[Category:Sculptors from London]]

Latest revision as of 20:11, 22 October 2024

Bust of banker Joshua Bates, by William Behnes
Memorial to Sir Thomas Hardy by William Behnes in Chapel at Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College.
An engraving of John Jones's memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral, carved by William Behnes
Statue of Robert Peel in Peel Park, Bradford

William Behnes (1795 – 3 January 1864) was a British sculptor of the early 19th century.[1]

Life

[edit]

Born in London, Behnes was the son of a Hanoverian piano-maker and his English wife. His brother was Henry Behnes, also a sculptor, albeit an inferior one. The family moved to Dublin and there William studied art at the Dublin Academy.

After the family returned to London, Behnes continued his artistic training, studying at the Royal Academy School of Art from 1813, under the tutorship of Peter Francis Chenu.[2] As a painter, he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1815 and won several medals during the ensuing years. In 1819 he won a Society of Arts gold medal for inventing an instrument to assist sculpture work, having by this time begun to practice successfully as a sculptor.

In 1837 Behnes was appointed 'Sculptor in Ordinary' to Queen Victoria. His pupils included noted sculptors George Frederic Watts, Thomas Woolner and Henry Weekes,[3] and naturalist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins.

Despite huge success, being declared "superior to Chantrey" in bust portraiture, he could not manage his finances and was declared bankrupt in 1861. His final work, the statue of Sir Henry Havelock (1861) in Trafalgar Square, has the claim to fame of being the first known statue based purely upon a photograph of his subject.

It is likely that he was an alcoholic and also a gambler, and this was worsened by bankruptcy. He moved to "miserable lodgings" in Charlotte Street.

He was found lying unconscious in a gutter, with only three pence in his pocket, on New Years Day 1864 and died on 3 January in Middlesex Hospital.

He was buried in an unmarked grave in Kensal Green Cemetery. George Cruikshank, who had known him, campaigned to raise money for a monument and to present a bronze bust of Behnes to the National Gallery, but there was little progress and the campaign was abandoned.[4]

In December 2016, a folio of 41 pages of Behnes' sketches (some double-sided) was sold at auction by Cuttlestones Auctioneers & Valuers at Penkridge in Staffordshire, for £2,200.[5][6] It includes sketches of the Duke of Newcastle, Sir Thomas Gresham, and Sir Robert Peel.

Works

[edit]

He produced many busts of children, reliefs and also some notable church monuments and statues, including ones of Dr William Babington in St Paul's Cathedral and Major-General Sir Henry Havelock (believed to be the first statue based on a photograph, two casts were made – one is today situated in Trafalgar Square, London, the other in Mowbray Park, Sunderland) and several of Sir Robert Peel (including ones situated in Leeds, Peel Park in Bradford, and at the Peel Centre in Hendon in north-west London). Other subjects included: Thomas Arnold, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West and George Cruikshank.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "William Behnes – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951".
  2. ^ "British bronze sculpture founders and plaster figure makers, 1800–1980 – C – National Portrait Gallery".
  3. ^ "Stevens T. 'Weekes, Henry (1807–1877)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28969. Retrieved 17 March 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ a b Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660–1851, Rupert Gunnis
  5. ^ "Sketch book of sculptor William Behnes expected to fetch £1,000 – £1,500". Cuttlestones auctioneers and valuers. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Fine Art & Antique at Penkridge Auction Rooms – lot 479". Cuttlestones Auctioneers & Valuers. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Public Sculptures of Sussex".
  8. ^ Historic England. "STATUE OF SIR ROBERT PEEL, PEEL CENTRE (1249503)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
[edit]
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