American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain

With this unfinished work, Pennsylvania-born artist Benjamin West sought to commemorate a critical diplomatic moment in the history of the United States. Depicted are the members of the American Commission appointed by Congress to negotiate peace with Great Britain as the American Revolutionary War drew to a close between 1782 and 1783; from left to right are John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s grandson and secretary to the commission. All are depicted in various states of completion, seen with the presence of visible brushstrokes and accompanied by the exposed ground of the canvas likely intended for the British Commission, represented by Richard Oswald and Caleb Whitefoord. The striking composition of this portrait and its associations with the nation’s founding prompted its inclusion in museum exhibitions, brochures, and other materials during bicentennial commemorations in 1976 and 1983.