Władysław Teodor “W.T.” Benda (January 15, 1873, Poznań, Poland
(Posen, German Empire) – November 30, 1948, Newark, New Jersey, United
States) was a Polish-American painter, illustrator, and designer.
The son of musician Jan Szymon Benda, and a nephew of the actress Helena Modrzejewska
(known in the United States as Helena Modjeska), W.T. Benda studied art
at the Krakow College of Technology and Art in his native Poland and at
the School of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. He came to the United
States at the very end of the 19th century, to visit his Aunt Helena,
who then lived in California. He stayed, and moved to New York City in
1902, where he attended the Art Students League of New York and the
William Merritt Chase School. While there, Benda studied under Robert
Henri and Edward Penfield.
He joined the Society of Illustrators in 1907, the Architectural
League in 1916, and became a naturalized American in 1911. He was also a
member of the National Society of Mural Painters.
He remained in NYC for the rest of his life. Benda married Romola
Campfield, and they had two daughters, Eleanora and Baria, who were both
artists.
Starting in 1905, Benda was primarily a graphic artist. He
illustrated books, short stories, advertising copy, and magazine covers
for Collier’s, McCall’s,
Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Theatre Magazine and many
others. Many publishers regarded Benda as their go-to artist for his
dependability and artistic abilities. In his time he was as well known
as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth or Maxfield Parrish. During the
1920s/1930s every publication sought the look of “the American Girl,”
but Benda’s beautiful women were often exotic and mysterious, not
homespun pretty like the girls of Harrison Fisher or Howard Chandler
Christy. Benda was fiercely proud of his Polish heritage and became
closely associated with the Polish-American cultural institution, The
Kosciuszko Foundation (see below). During the two World Wars he designed
many posters for both Poland and America. He was honored with the
‘Polonia Restituta’ decoration by the Polish government following World
War I.
Beginning in 1914, Benda was also an accomplished mask maker and
costume designer. His sculpted, papier-mache face masks were used in
plays and dances and often in his own paintings and illustrations. They
were used in masques or miracle plays in New York City at venues like
the New York Coffee House. Benda also created the masks for stage
productions in New York and London for such writers as Eugene O’Neil and
Noël Coward. He became so well-known as a mask maker that his name
became synonymous for any life-like mask, whether it was of his design
or not. Benda also created “grotesque” masks, which were more fantasy or
caricature in nature. Benda created the original mask design for the
movie The Mask of Fu Manchu, which was originally published as a twelve
part serial in Collier’s from May 7, 1932 through July 23, 1932. The
cover of the May 7 issue presented a stunning portrait by Benda. In the
latter stages of his career, Benda spent less time doing illustration
and more time making masks.
Articles by and about Benda and his masks appeared regularly in many
of the same magazines and publications that carried his illustrations.
In the 1930s he authored the Encyclopædia Britannica entry on masks. He
also wrote a book, Masks (Watson-Guptill, 1944, currently out of print),
a study of his own designs and unique construction techniques. The
Polish Museum of America possesses a collection of Benda’s posters for
the relief effort in Poland.
- The Indian Drum illustrated by Benda
- Biography and samples of his work
- Magazine and Book Covers by Benda
- Video of his works at YouTube
- American Beauties from Library of Congress Exhibition
- Photos of Benda
A Girl of The Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter, (Read Online if you’d like) Illustrations by Wladyslaw T. Benda. New York Doubleday, Page & Company, 1909. Title Page. |
“‘Edith, what did you say to Miss Comstock that made her run away from Phil?’” |
“Elenora knelt and slipping her fingers through the leaves and grasses to the roots, gathered a few violets and gave them to Philip” |
“‘If you had known about wonders like these in the days of your
youth, Robert Comstock, could you ever have done the thing you did?’” |
“With her lips near Elnora’s ear Polly whispered, ‘Sister! dear sister!’” |
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