Young Girl by a Window

This portrait of Benson's daughter Eleanor, whom he often painted, appeared at the annual exhibition of The Ten at Montross Gallery, in 1912. By 1910, Benson had refined his own version of American impressionism, a style of painting that blended the academic ideas of the Parisian art schools with the increasingly popular methods of the French impressionists. The hand-embroidered silk coat that Eleanor wears, which was fashionable in New England and likely brought back from the East by Benson's sailor and merchant ancestors, can be seen in several of Benson's works.