Ben Foster

American, 1852-1926. Benjamin Foster also known as Ben Foster was a famous painter known for his bucolic scenes portraying the New England countryside. Foster's signature Tonalist style featured soft colors and limited color palates involving soft browns, rusts, and grays, particularly autumn colors. As per the Tonalist tradition, Foster created most of his artworks in both oil paints and watercolors from his studio rather than en Plein air. The painter was born in 1852 in North Anson in Maine. The artist spent his childhood in Maine with Charles Foster, his brother who was also an artist. Owing to financial difficulties, Foster started his career at the age of thirty.

Ben Foster went to New York in 1870 and settled there for the rest of his life. The painter studied at the Art Students’ League, New York under master Abbott Thayer, who influenced the painter's still lifes. To support himself during his art training Foster took up work as a merchant. The painter shared his New York studio located at 9 East 17th Street with Charles Warren Eaton. In 1886, Foster traveled to Paris with fellow artists like Charles Warren Eaton and Leonard Ochtman. During his time in Paris, Foster learned with Luc Oliver Merson, Harry Thompson, and Aime Morot and showed at the Paris Salon. The painter also made pastoral artworks during his visits to the French countryside.

In 1887, upon his return to America, Foster resided in both Cornwall Hollow in Connecticut and Manhattan. Ben Foster's painting art for sale often included landscapes featuring the Manhattan scenes. Ben Foster's painting art often portrayed trees surrounding ponds, woodlands, and fields. His landscapes also depicted different times of the day like dusk and dawns and different seasons. Ben Foster's painting art at auction features rural scenes that seek profound meanings. Ben Foster's painting art for sale also comes up at auction online on leading auction platforms.