Newtown Square Painter Benjamin West

In the summer of 1748 in Newtown Square at the local tavern, the proprietor’s 11-year-old son had been practicing his drawing, a skill he learned he had when several years before, seeing a sleeping child, he had been inspired to try to draw what he saw with a pencil and paper.  He continued to develop that skill, using his school pen and any available surface to sketch birds, flowers, and whatever else caught his fancy. 

Native Indians still populated Pennsylvania, and in summers they would return to Delaware County to live.  They noticed the young artist and his work, and shared with him how to mix local materials to make the red and yellow colors with which they decorated their ornaments.  A whole new world opened to the young boy, one that eventually led him to London, where in time he became court painter to King George III, the founder of the Royal Academy of Arts, and one of the greatest painters of the day. The painter was Benjamin West. 

The tavern where he sketched is still here in Newtown Square, and open to the public each Sunday in July and August from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Please take advantage of this opportunity to tour the tavern and walk in the steps of Benjamin West. 

The Newtown Square Historical Preservation Society opens the 1742 Square Tavern at Rt. 252 and Goshen Road each July and August on Sundays from 1-4:00 p.m.  For more information, and to verify openings on a particular date, please check our website at http://www.historicnewtownsquare.org/.