Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin

Today Benjamin West is remembered because he was the father of American painting; and many like to think of him as the only American ever to become President of the Royal Academy of England. But I like to remember him as the boy who wanted so very much to paint that he dug his colors out of the ground and made his brushes from his cat's tail."--Marguerite Henry Benjamin West grew up in a deeply religious Quaker family, where Quaker beliefs forbid the creation of images. But little Benjamin was born with an extraordinary gift--a gift of creating paintings of people, animals, and landscapes so true to life they "took one's breath away." How Benjamin's dilemma is solved makes for a delightful biography enhanced with Henry's whimsical illustrations.