Frank W. Benson: Ducks at Dawn

Drypoint on paper. c1930.

Frank Weston Benson. American. 1862-1951.

A well-balanced piece by the esteemed Frank Weston Benson. Three waterfowls fly together in this original etching, signed in pencil in the left corner. 

In 1935 Benson's painting of canvasback ducks served as the model for the second Federal Duck Stamp. This series is issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support conservation of migratory waterfowl and their habitats.

This artwork was stored in an archival environment since acquisition. In 2024, the frederic gallery framed this piece in-house in high quality, archival materials and crafted wood frame.

"Frank Benson painted some of the most beautiful pictures ever executed by an American artist. They are images alive with reflections of youth and optimism, projecting a way of life at once innocent and idealized and yet resonant with a sense of certain, selective realities of contemporary times." - W.H. Gerdts ... "Benson was a unique artist, in that he had mastered so many different mediums and subjects. And from his early works right until the very end, light is what he was interested in." - D. Lahikainen