Benton Spruance Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, Lithographer, b. 1904 - d. 1967

(b Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1904; d Philadelphia 1967) American lithographer and painter. Benton Murdoch Spruance was one of the most influential and prolific color lithographers in the history of twentieth-century modernism. He was known for his innovations in the field of color lithography. After studying architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Spruance attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He served as chair of the Fine Arts department at Beaver College in Pennsylvania, and was Director of Graphic Arts at the Philadelphia College of Art. Spruance was the recipient of many prestigious awards, including two grants from the Guggenheim. In 1967, the year that Spruance died, a major retrospective of his work was held at the Philadelphia College of Arts. There have also been other exhibitions of his art at the Art Institute of Chicago; The Guggenheim Museum; and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Permanent collections of his work are held by many institutions including the National Gallery of Art; the New York Public Library; and the Carnegie Institute.